Phony AI-Created Receipts Become Real Problem for Businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reportedly helping employees scam their bosses with phony expenses receipts.

The rise of new image generation models from companies like Google and OpenAI have led to a wave of AI-generated receipts submitted in-house, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Oct. 26), citing interviews from leading expense software platforms.

For example, software provider AppZen said fake AI receipts accounted for roughly 14% of all fraudulent documents submitted last month, compared to zero last year. The FinTech Ramp said its new software caught more than $1 million in fraudulent invoices within 90 days.

And around 30% of the British and American financial professionals surveyed by expense management platform Medius reported they had seen an uptick in falsified receipts after the launch of OpenAI’s GPT-4o in 2024.

“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 expense platform SAP Concur, which processes more than 80 million compliance checks per month using AI.

Several platforms pointed to a significant jump in the number of AI-generated receipts following the debut of GPT-4o’s improved image generation model in March. OpenAI told the FT that it takes action when its policies are violated and its images contain metadata that indicate they were created using ChatGPT.

The FT noted that there was a time when someone would need photo editing skills — or the willingness to pay an online vendor — to create a fraudulent document. Now, free and accessible image generation software allows employees to quickly falsify receipts in seconds by giving simple text commands to chatbots.

Expense management platforms showed the news outlet several receipts featuring realistic details like wrinkles in paper, detailed itemization in line with real-life menus, and signatures. It’s part of a larger problem, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this year.

“Generative AI has transformed financial fraud, making it more sophisticated and harder to detect,” that report said. “While businesses harness its capabilities for efficiency, cybercriminals exploit it to craft convincing fraudulent schemes.”

Modern AI-driven attacks aren’t confined to phishing emails, as fraudsters now use voice cloning and deepfake videos to impersonate executives, duping employees into authorizing large fund transfers.

“The accessibility of generative AI tools means that even low-level scammers can produce high-quality forgeries, blurring the lines between genuine and fake communications,” PYMNTS added.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that accounts payable (AP) departments have become major targets for these advanced fraud techniques, with 68% of organizations encountering at least one fraud attempt last year. AP fraud manifests in various forms, including phishing attacks, account takeovers and invoice fraud.