The U.S. government may be losing up to $750 billion annually to fraud, much of it driven by foreign cybercrime rings exploiting stolen American identities, according to experts featured on 60 Minutes. The Government Accountability Office estimates $521 billion in yearly losses, but former GAO official Linda Miller warned the true number could approach $1 trillion. The U.S. government is a major target for fraud because of its vast financial resources and widespread use of personal data. Criminals can buy Americans’ digital identities for as little as two dollars and use AI tools like deepfakes to evade security. Despite claims from Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency that it saved $160 billion under Elon Musk’s leadership, Miller cautioned that critics often confuse wasteful spending with fraud.
