Report Fraud, Waste, & Abuse

Hotline to Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

VIA EMAIL: oiarequest@commerce.nc.gov
VIA PHONE: Call (984) 236-5999

The North Carolina Department of Commerce and our Office of Internal Audit (OIA) encourages any concerned individual to report fraud, waste, and abuse.

Fraud, waste, and abuse are defined as follows:

Fraud:

  • The Commission of illegal act, intentional deception; to deceive others for personal gain or to damage an individual or entity.

Waste:

  • Careless expenditure, consumption, mismanagement, use, squandering of State resources.

Abuse:

  • Abuse one’s position or authority

Misuse of State resources:

  • Intentional destruction,
  • Diversion,
  • Manipulation,
  • Misapplication, and
  • Maltreatment.

Internal Security Violations:

  • Any act that violates an established security policy, procedure and or control.

Computer Forensics:

  • Any act of unauthorized access, manipulation, or destruction of digital evidence.

Ethics Violation:

  • Violations of the State Government Ethics Act found in Chapter 138A of the NC General Statutes.

Criminal Conduct:

  • Involves any act or conduct that violates federal, state and /or local criminal laws.

Internal Theft:

  • The taking of property without the owner’s consent.

Ability to Report

When reporting via email, do not disclose confidential information such as Social Security Numbers (SSNs) etc. Your email to the Office of Internal Audit notifies the OIA to contact you to obtain additional information about the alleged fraud, waste, and abuse. OIA will attempt to respond within 3 business days. You may also report these incidents to the Office of Internal Audit by calling (984) 236-5999, by mail, or by fax to (919) 341-5775. You will be asked to complete a confidential investigation request also called an incident form.

The Office of Internal Audit Commitment:

All reports of fraud, waste, and/or abuse are kept confidential. Reports will be given careful attention and handled promptly and discreetly. Department of Commerce personnel are specifically protected from any retaliation (G.S. 126-85) in any form for reporting incidents of suspected fraud, waste or abuse.

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