Auditor unveils fraud reporting app 'Fraud Squad' - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

If you've seen something wrong with Richmond government and wanted to report it — as the saying goes, "There's an app for that!"

Tuesday, City Auditor Umesh Dalal unveiled a new tool for smart phones he hopes will help make his office more accessible to citizens.

The app could save the city money and it is free to you. It went live Tuesday morning. You can find it in the iPhone app store or the Android Google play store. All you have to do is search "Richmond fraud." 

The download will put your membership to Richmond's "Fraud Squad" at your fingertips.

The auditor's office says each year $73-million of Richmond revenue is subject to the threat of fraud and Richmonders are the city's first line of defense.

"When they're in the field, they watch something happening, the only thing they have is their smart phone," Dalal explained. "So they can report the incident right then because if you think ‘I'm going to go home and report,' you probably are going to forget."

So instead, Dalal is asking you to download the app. On it, you can upload photos or video of the complaint and write a detailed description of what happened.

"We want to know names, titles, times, vehicle numbers, anything you can think of that might help us," Chris Kalafatis instructed.

A GPS component will pinpoint your location or you can enter it on your own, if you've already left the scene. You'll even get a case number and pass code to follow your complaint's progress.

City leaders say Richmond is at the forefront of this technology. So far, they maintain, only Philadelphia has put it to use. We're told it cost the auditor's office $10,000 to have a company develop the app.

"This is a very small cost and all it's going to take is one opportunity to come across the threshold and it'll pay for itself probably tenfold," Councilman Bruce Tyler said.

You can also make a fraud report by going to calling the auditor's hotline at 646-5697. Speed dial to that hotline is also included in the app.

Copyright 2012 WWBT NBC12.  All rights reserved.