When Should I Report Fraud to the Federal Trade Commission Office of Inspector General?
File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to report
- conduct on the part of an FTC employee that may be a violation of law or regulation;
- fraudulent or other illicit activity on the part of any individual or entity contracting with or obtaining a benefit from the FTC; or
- evidence of significant waste, abuse, or mismanagement within the FTC.
File a report with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov if your report is about the business practices of an individual, company, or entity.
You also can report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and Do Not Call violations at donotcall.gov.
How Can I Contact the OIG to File a Report?
You may contact the OIG to file a report in the following ways:
File an OIG Hotline complaint to report waste, fraud, and abuse
Call the OIG Hotline at (202) 326-2800
Email the OIG at oig@ftc.gov
Mail the OIG at
Federal Trade Commission Office of Inspector General
Room CC-5206
600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20580
What Is My Obligation to File a Complaint with the OIG?
FTC employees have an obligation to promptly report misconduct, fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement to the OIG and a duty to cooperate with the OIG.
FTC contractors also have an obligation to notify the government whenever they become aware of a contract overpayment or fraud. According to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) 52.203-13, contractors will timely disclose to the OIG—in writing, to with a copy to the contracting officer—whenever, in connection with the award, performance, or closeout of this contract or any subcontract thereunder, the contractor has credible evidence that a principal, employee, agent, or subcontractor of the contractor has committed a violation of federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations found in Title 18 of the United States Code.
What Protections Do I Have?
You may request that the OIG keep your identity confidential. The OIG is prohibited from disclosing an employee's identity without the employee's consent—unless the OIG determines that disclosure is unavoidable, or the OIG is compelled by a court order. Likewise, the OIG also may not disclose the identity of any individual who files a complaint with the OIG via the OIG website, unless (a) the individual consents to the disclosure, or (b) the Inspector General determines that such disclosure is unavoidable in the course of an investigation.
Notably, the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, does not provide complainants and witnesses who are not FTC employees or who have not filed their complaints through the OIG website with an automatic right to confidentiality. However, absent these complainants’ and witnesses’ consent to disclosure of their identities, the OIG will protect their identities from disclosure to the maximum extent permissible by law.
In addition, federal law prohibits government personnel from retaliating against a federal employee for making a covered disclosure to the OIG. The law further prohibits government contractors from discharging, demoting, or otherwise discriminating against their employees as reprisal for disclosing information to an authorized FTC official (including management officials or the OIG). Please visit the OIG’s Whistleblower Protection page for additional information.