WASHINGTON, D.C. – General Services Administration (GSA) fleet card managers and auditors rely on data to spot fraud and abuse of government charge cards, according to the Federal Times. The agencies track how many gallons of gas were bought, which station sold the gas, and when and how much was paid. Electronic data gathering allows the Inspector General to investigate cases in real time, rather than long after the fact, as was the case when the office was working with paper receipts.

In the 2006 fiscal year, 17 million transactions, amounting to $1.1 billion worth of gasoline and maintenance services, were made using the fleet cards, according to GSA data. Many of those cases involved information theft or vendors who were double-billing the cards, rather than employee theft.

Because each card is attached to a vehicle, not a driver, it is more difficult to tie fraud and abuse to a single person, Federal Times reports. The transaction data available on fuel purchases, coupled with other point-of-sale information such as vehicle odometer readings and personal identification numbers (PINs), help managers identify patterns of potential abuse, according to GSA Fleet Director Bill Webster.

The data can inform managers and investigators whether a driver is spending more than expected for the number of miles traveled and whether they are buying more gasoline than the capacity of the tank.