The False Claims Act was signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to prevent contracting fraud during the civil war. It allows ordinary citizens, with the help of a False Claims Act attorney, to file lawsuits on behalf of the US government. 

The purpose of the FCA is to incentivize citizens to help the federal government police rampant military contracting fraud during the U.S. Civil War. The original law went mostly unused until 1986 when the U.S. Congress modernized its procedures and approved significant amendments 

The False Claims Act law sets mandatory minimum payments to whistleblowers to help convince “insiders” to take the risk of losing their jobs or suffering other harms. This mandatory minimum is enforceable in court. The guaranteed minimum payments, which are often in the millions of dollars, are essential for convincing otherwise skeptical potential whistleblowers to step forward.

The term “relator” is the original name for whistleblowers who file suit under the False Claims Act, dating back to 1863. Many states have their own False Claims Act laws, which have additional whistleblower rewards and protections