The U.S. Department of Homeland Security faces a moderate risk of abuse of its fleet cards, the department's Office of Inspector General reported.

The OIG report stated that while the DHS has established internal controls for its charge card programs, the department needs to improve its implementation of the internal controls to "prevent illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases."

For the three types of charge cards analyzed — purchase, travel, and fleet — fleet had the lowest internal controls of the three. The OIG found fleet had adequate controls while purchase and travel had strong controls. All three were deemed to have moderate risk.

In fiscal-year 2013, the DHS charged $198.43 million on its fleet cards, down from $228.1 million in fiscal-year 2013. Fleet cards represent the smallest amount charged of the three programs, representing 16% of fiscal-year 2013 charge chard spending.

Under the 2012 Charge Card Act, the department is required to conduct periodic risk assessments of purchase and travel cards. The OIG published the "Fiscal Year 2013 Risk Assessment of DHS Charge Card Abuse Prevention Program" report on Jan. 29.