Fraud Expert Tells House Panel Government Lacks Tools to Counter AI-Enabled Scams

David Maimon, head of Fraud Insights at SentiLink, testified July 15 before the House Oversight Committee's Government Operations Subcommittee that the federal government lacks the tools, policies, and interagency coordination needed to counter organized fraud.

Fox News reported the hearing, titled "Emerging Fraud Threats and the Evolving Fraud Landscape," examined how agencies can strengthen digital identity verification. Maimon told the panel that fraud against government programs has evolved into a durable criminal infrastructure.

"Criminals exploit the seams between agencies precisely because our defenses are built program by program, while their infrastructure is built to move across all of them," he said. He added that SentiLink infiltrated thousands of online markets offering stolen identities, checks, and tutorials on defrauding government programs or financial institutions.

Criminals are using AI to generate fake documents, videos, and phishing emails that bypass identity checks, Maimon stated.

"It's difficult to prove that you're not using AI while verifying your identity with documents and liveness tests and selfie images," he said. " In one Medicaid investigation, SentiLink found providers that billed the government about $2 million yet had no staff or operations at the listed addresses, Maimon said.

He urged agencies to rely on historical identity signals rather than images that AI can easily replicate.

Maimon said every dollar shielded from organized fraud remains available for the intended recipients.