Workers Increasingly Defrauding Employers with AI-Generated Expense Receipts

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Employees are increasingly using AI-generated expense receipts to submit fraudulent claims, according to research reported by the Financial Times. AI-generated fake receipts accounted for 14% of documented fraudulent expense claims in September 2025. There were no cases in 2024.

The expense management firm Ramp also reported it had flagged over $1 million worth of false claims in invoices in just 90 days.

The proliferation of fraudulent expense receipts mirrors a wider pattern of AI-based image, document, and video generation tools fueling a democratization of fraud. This has made it quicker and easier to create convincing spoofs. Before AI tools were readily available, fraudsters would have needed to use complicated image editing software to achieve similar results.

Like other AI-generated images, these fake receipts can be difficult to differentiate from authentic receipts. As receipts are generally simple itemized lists, bad actors can easily generate plausible receipts with altered amounts or fabricated details. According to the expense platform SAP Concur’s product-marketing head, Chris Juneau, these documents have “become so good, we tell our customers, ‘do not trust your eyes’.”

This pattern of increasingly sophisticated AI-fueled fraud demonstrates how traditional visual expense inspections may no longer be sufficient. It also reflects the importance of increased scrutiny of fraudulent and doctored images, audio, and video in business.