Michigan has reimbursed $119,000 worth of food stamps reported stolen from March through August 2023.
The food stamp program is a federal program operated by state health departments serving as a social safety net. Criminals steal food stamps via credit card skimmers, compromised logins and stolen identities sold on the dark web.
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A security expert says Congress should reduce food stamp fraud as it faces a Saturday deadline to renew the Farm Bill.
Haywood Talcove is the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ Government Group, which provides fraud prevention tools to 26 state unemployment programs and 50 U.S. banks.
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Standing in the checkout lines or in virtual lines at Sam’s Clubs in metro Detroit, criminals are spending government benefits stolen from people more than 2,000 miles away in California.
On May 24, three people – Travis Newby, 39, of Detroit, Derriun Williams, 23, of Detroit, and Vanessa Williams, 47, of Highland Park – were arrested and arraigned on felony charges.
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Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers are spearheading legislation to curb food-stamp fraud by limiting the balances recipients can accumulate.
Representative Ann Flood (R-Pen Argyl) is drafting a bill requiring the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to request a federal waiver allowing the commonwealth to cap the benefits a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) user can amass. Kerry Beninghoff (R-Bellefonte) has meanwhile begun preparing a resolution asking the Biden administration to set such limits itself. Currently, the federally funded but state administered entitlement does not require those who draw SNAP benefits to spend them in order to remain eligible for them.Â
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