The State Auditor’s Office creates and shares many resources to help local governments identify signs of fraud so that they can prevent losses and preserve taxpayer dollars. SAO has information about topics like reviewing bank statements for unusual activity, ensuring governments implement effective internal controls, and how to handle personal purchases using government credit cards.
Credit card use, when left unchecked, can lead to serious consequences—as our fraud investigation specialists discovered in five noteworthy cases over the past year.
We’re highlighting these cases during Fraud Awareness Week because they underscore both the importance of government accountability and the value of the State Auditor’s Office resources that help governments prevent fraud.
All year long, the Special Investigations Team at the Office of the Washington State Auditor investigates misappropriation in all types of governments, from large state agencies to small towns and special purpose districts.
So far in 2026, our Office has issued 12 fraud investigation reports representing more than $1,577,780 in misappropriated or questionable uses of public resources.
State Auditor Pat McCarthy today offered support for Governor Bob Ferguson’s newly created position of Chief Fraud Prevention Officer and a fraud prevention workgroup for state agencies, calling them positive additions to the state’s accountability work.
The latest audits of a troubled Mason County fire district show its well-documented disregard for the protection of public funds continued for years until its governing board was replaced in 2024.
Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor issued its third fraud investigation report in less than a decade for the town of Springdale, population 300.
Washington governments take good stewardship seriously. A key part of this stewardship is understanding when and how governments must report suspected losses, including the personal use of government credit cards.
Since 2016, Washington’s governments have reported more than $37 million of lost public funds as a result of cyberfraud, sometimes referred to as phishing, spearfishing or business email compromise schemes. In these schemes, an external threat actor contacts the government, appearing to be a known source such as an employee, upper-level manager, vendor or other business associate. Government staff are convinced to redirect valid payments to the external threat actor, or to purchase gift cards and provide them with the card numbers.
Misappropriation of public funds can be financially devastating to local governments, especially in smaller, rural areas where community members depend on taxpayer money to supply critical services and resources.
This troubling trend has continued in 2025, as our Office has seen an increase in the number of fraud investigations focused on local governments in areas with smaller populations where employees have access to public funds without appropriate reviews.
A pair of small towns in Eastern Washington lost tens of thousands of tax dollars to employees who spent the money shopping online and on other unallowable purposes, the Office of the Washington State Auditor has found.