Fake Expense Receipts

According to Ellen Jennings-Trace, a staff writer for TechRadar Pro, there is a significant rise in AI-generated fake receipts which are being turned in for employers to reimburse. These are very hard to spot since receipts aren’t very complicated to begin with, now accounting for 14% of fraudulent documents submitted in Sept 2025, up from 0% in 2024, according to AppZen.

Ramp claims to have flagged over $1 million worth of fraudulent invoices in the last 90 days.
Apparently these fake receipts are really ‘good’ making them difficult for humans to identify them. The article talked about additional software (another expense!) businesses may need to scan the metadata of the receipt, although we don’t see how that would help given the many places from which receipts can originate.

The new image generation models from Google and OpenAI have led to this wave of AI-generated receipts according to the Financial Times (FT). They cited some of the same names, AppZen, Fin Tech Ramp, with a quote from Chris Juneau at SAP Concur.

With AI creeping into every area of our life, business and personal, it’s more and more likely that this trend will continue. Wonder if we’ll go back to old school with pen and paper or physical receipts to prove they’re real! –CMW