New image-generating AIs are being used for fake expense reports

Businesses are increasingly being deceived by employees using artificial intelligence for an age-old scam: faking expense receipts.

The launch of new image-generation models by top AI groups such as OpenAI and Google in recent months has sparked an influx of AI-generated receipts submitted internally within companies, according to leading expense software platforms.

Software provider AppZen said fake AI receipts accounted for about 14 percent of fraudulent documents submitted in September, compared with none last year. Fintech group Ramp said its new software flagged more than $1 million in fraudulent invoices within 90 days.

About 30 percent of US and UK financial professionals surveyed by expense management platform Medius reported they had seen a rise in falsified receipts following the launch of OpenAI’s GPT-4o last year.

“These receipts have become so good, we tell our customers, ‘do not trust your eyes,’” said Chris Juneau, senior vice-president and head of product marketing for SAP Concur, one of the world’s leading expense platforms, which processes more than 80 million compliance checks monthly using AI.

Several platforms attributed a significant jump in the number of AI-generated receipts after OpenAI launched GPT-4o’s improved image generation model in March.

OpenAI told the Financial Times that it takes action when its policies are violated and its images contained metadata that signaled they were created by ChatGPT.

Creating fraudulent documents previously required skills in photo editing or paying for such services through online vendors. The advent of free and accessible image generation software has made it easy for employees to quickly falsify receipts in seconds by writing simple text instructions to chatbots.