Trump Will Now Pay Americans Who Help Catch Fraudsters. The First Check Went to Nick Shirley.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance launched a program Tuesday, Oct. 20, that pays ordinary Americans for turning in people who steal from taxpayers (White House video). Under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, or WHIP, a tip that leads to criminal charges can earn $10,000 to $30,000, the Justice Department announced. Treasury is putting up $25 million to fund it.

The first check, for $10,000, went to Nick Shirley, the 24-year-old independent journalist whose December 2025 video from Minnesota day care centers helped set off a federal fraud crackdown there, the New York Post's reporters in the room wrote. He stood in the Oval Office as Trump made it official.

"From day one of my administration we've waged an unprecedented war on corruption and fraud," Trump said, "and we'll not let our country be looted and plundered by thieves and pirates and foreign fraudsters" (White House video).

How it works

Here's the new part. Most government reward programs pay only after a case is finally over, appeals and all. WHIP pays once criminal charges are filed, which gives tipsters "more certainty about the amount and timing" of a reward, the Justice Department said. Tipsters stay eligible for bigger awards later if their case brings in large penalties. Trump put it in plain terms:

When more than one person claims the same tip, Trump said he'll settle it himself. "I'll determine whether or not the person is deserving… and I will be very generous," he said in the Oval Office (White House video).

The Justice Department's whistleblower rewards page, updated Tuesday, spells out what it wants most: fraud in hospice, home health care, day care and special services. Tips must be in writing, truthful and complete, and they must come from people who didn't take part in the scheme. Health care fraud and fraud against programs such as SNAP food aid, unemployment, student aid and veterans' benefits all count.

Think of the reward posters in an old Western town. The sheriff couldn't be everywhere, so he paid the people who were. Washington is doing the same thing, with fraud.gov as the poster.

Why the old system wasn't enough

Whistleblower rewards aren't new. Under the False Claims Act, a person can sue on the government's behalf and typically keep 15% to 30% of what's recovered. It works: settlements and judgments hit a record $6.8 billion in fiscal 2025, more than $5.3 billion of it from whistleblower suits, the Justice Department reported.

But that route means filing a federal lawsuit, and it only reaches a slice of the fraud. When a reporter pressed Vance on why a new program was needed, he didn't let it slide:

Vance said the idea came straight from the president. "We were talking about ideas for how to enlist our fellow citizens to help us do the work of fighting the fraud and the President said well do commission," he said. "Your tax dollars are being stolen... If you want to help us stop it, you get to share in the rewards now."

The man with the first check

Shirley's video questioned whether several Somali-run day care centers in Minnesota were operating as real businesses. It showed apparently empty facilities and people who said they hadn't seen children there. The White House credits it with helping bring a surge of FBI and Homeland Security resources into the state.

One center in the video was Future Leaders Early Learning Center. Its former CEO, Fahima Egeh Mahamud, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States, admitting she collected $4.6 million through false child care claims and about $850,000 through the federal child nutrition program tied to the Feeding Our Future scandal (Star Tribune). She was arrested in February trying to board a flight to London.

The size of the problem

Vance has led Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud since March. The White House's online Fraud Ledger puts the fraud it has uncovered since January 2025 at $260.7 billion, with $72 billion a year stopped through actions such as provider suspensions and rule changes, and $58.9 billion enforced through charges, settlements and penalties.

The task force has already moved on several fronts. Vance announced last month that 750,000 enrollees would be removed from Obamacare for suspected fraudulent enrollment, with 450,000 more under review. He also suspended 447 hospice providers in California.

What happens next

Tips can go in now at fraud.gov. At $30,000 apiece, the $25 million fund covers more than 800 top awards, and every one is paid only after a fraudster is charged.

For years, the people who spotted fraud first, the neighbor, the employee, the parent dropping off a child at a day care with no other children in it, had little reason to speak up. Starting Tuesday, they do.