Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP)

What the Department announced

On October 20, 2026, the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs announced the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, abbreviated WHIP. The release calls it a reward for tips that lead to criminal charges, paid earlier than programs that wait for a final judgment, forfeiture, and appeals. ¹ Source 1

The same day’s Fraud Division pages use other names. The terms page is titled “Whistleblower Rewards Program.” The FAQ page is titled “Criminal Tip Rewards Pilot Program” and also says “Fraud Rewards Program.” The dollar range, the covered subjects, and the America.gov/fraud portal match across those pages. This guide cites each fact to the page it comes from and does not treat the naming difference as a legal conclusion. ¹ Source 1 ² Source 2 ³ Source 3

The announcement says the Department of the Treasury is committing $25 million to implement the program. That figure is program funding in the press release. It is not a whistleblower award. ¹ Source 1

The release says the Department’s fraud work supports a task force chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, which the release calls President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. That sentence is context from the release. It is not a description of who decides an individual award. ¹ Source 1

Who runs it

The Fraud Division’s terms page says the National Fraud Enforcement Division administers the rewards program. The FAQ says submissions made through the portal are reviewed by staff under the direction of the Assistant Attorney General for that Division. The October 20 announcement was issued by the Office of Public Affairs. ¹ Source 1 ² Source 2 ³ Source 3

The release says a person who participates remains eligible to be considered under other reward programs, including the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. This page does not describe that pilot. Its rules are not restated here. ¹ Source 1

What qualifies

The terms page and the FAQ describe two subject groups for the early payment. The first is federal health care offenses and related crimes involving health care benefit programs, or fraud against patients or others in the health care industry. The second is fraud on programs or benefits administered by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of War, or the Small Business Administration. ² Source 2 ³ Source 3

The FAQ gives examples: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Agriculture, unemployment fraud for Labor, and student aid fraud for Education. The terms page says the program places a particular emphasis on hospice, home health care, day care, and special services fraud. The pages reviewed do not define “special services fraud.” ² Source 2 ³ Source 3

The FAQ says a qualifying tip must be voluntary, original, truthful, complete, and timely, and must lead to unsealed criminal charges. Voluntary, in that FAQ, means the person was not already obligated to provide the information by subpoena, a cooperation duty, or a similar compulsion. Original information must come from independent knowledge or analysis and cannot merely repeat what the Fraud Division, law enforcement, a court filing, or the news already has. ³ Source 3

The FAQ says there is no minimum loss. Tips about unsuccessful schemes, or schemes with little or no loss, can still be considered if they lead to charges and meet the other requirements. A whistleblower must be an individual. A company cannot be the whistleblower, though a person may be represented by counsel. ³ Source 3

Award range, as the Department states it

The press release says the program “will pay whistleblowers an award of $10,000 to $30,000 for information leading to criminal charges relating to certain subject areas,” and that awards “will be made in the Justice Department’s sole discretion following the filing of criminal charges.” ¹ Source 1

The FAQ describes the same dollar band as a payment after charges are unsealed, for each distinct tip. Whether two tips are distinct is in the Department’s discretion. The person does not have to wait for a guilty plea, sentence, and appeal. If the Department decides to pay, it says the person will be contacted. ³ Source 3

The FAQ lists reasons a person can be ineligible. They include: the submitter is a company; the person was a Department of Justice or law-enforcement official, employee, or contractor, or a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or household member of such a person, when the information was acquired; the person was an elected or appointed foreign official; the person meaningfully participated in the crime by directing, planning, initiating, or knowingly profiting from it; or the person knowingly made a material false statement or obstructed the investigation. The FAQ says the Department may still consider a person whose role it finds was minimal. ³ Source 3

How to file

The press release says members of the public can report at america.gov/fraud. The FAQ says the Division receives submissions through that portal and may deny an award solely because a tip did not come through the portal. It also says the Department may consider other channels in its discretion. ¹ Source 1 ³ Source 3

The terms and conditions are posted at justice.gov/fraud/whistleblower. The FAQ points readers there for the definitions of voluntary and original information and for covered offenses. ² Source 2 ³ Source 3

The FAQ says the fraud portal is not the path for crime that is not fraud, and it points readers to local law enforcement and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. This site’s report button stays on America.gov/fraud and the Justice Department pages. ³ Source 3

Anonymity and confidentiality

The FAQ says the Department will not publicly disclose information that could reasonably be expected to reveal a tipster’s identity, except as required by law, by Department policy as the Department determines it, or when disclosure to a defendant is required in a judicial or administrative proceeding. ³ Source 3

America.gov/fraud says a report is encrypted, that America.gov keeps nothing, that the report goes to the Treasury Department, and that a name is optional. The same page says a person may be eligible for an award if contact information is included and the report leads to charges or recovery of money. The WHIP FAQ says people selected for the early reward are contacted. Omitting a name and receiving a payment can pull in different directions. This site cannot say which choice applies to a given report. ³ Source 3 ⁴ Source 4

Deadlines

The FAQ does not publish a fixed number of days to file. It says information must be timely so witnesses and evidence are available and charges can be brought within the statute of limitations. The payment decision, if there is one, comes after an indictment or criminal complaint is obtained and unsealed. ³ Source 3