Food Stamp Fraud, Rare but Troubling [fraud rate = 1.3%]

New York Times ^ | December 18, 2013 | Kim Severson

[grundle]

Officially, the amount of money lost to underground trafficking is estimated to be 1.3 percent annually. That is down from more than 4 percent in the 1990s when paper coupons had not yet been replaced by electronic benefit cards, called E.B.T.'s, in the program that is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Include erroneous payments to recipients because of errors on the part of the government or outright lying on applications, and the overall loss to the food stamp program is about 4.07 percent, according to the Department of Agriculture.

[correctthought]

And probably much more than could be counted.

[Gasshog]

I’m Impressed

expected something more like not a smidgen of fraud.

[Hojczyk]

They may be talking about people getting food stamp ...not how people actually use them..

[albie]

“Rare” my ass! More like the norm.

[Repeal The 17th]

There are many ways to commit fraud with the program.
Here is one example:
Create a little neighborhood store.
Put green beans on the shelf priced at $5/can.
Sell the can of green beans to a food stamp recipient.
Give the buyer $2 refund under the table.
Pocket the $3 profit.
Put the can of green beans back on the shelf.
Repeat over and over again.

A deputy sheriff in the county I was born in got busted for doing that.
The only reason he got caught was because he got greedy.

[ETCM]

Depending on how widely or narrowly you define fraud. Include those who work under the table, deal drugs, or have some other type of income that would reduce or eliminate the benefit? Rate goes up. Include those who trade or sell their food or benefit for money, drugs, etc? Rate goes up. Include those who shop at stores that illegally sell cigarettes, liquor and other prohibited items for EBT funds? Rate goes up. Include those who are fully capable of working full time, but work part time or not at all because they would rather take the handouts? 50% or more is certainly possible.

Want to make the fraud rate 1.3 percent? Only include those you catch in the act of fraud, and don't look for it.

[jospehm20]

Because 98.7% of the people who get food stamps are paragons of virtue right? I don’t know what is worse, the Slimes spouting the 1.3% figure or people actually believing it.

[nopardons]

Actually, it is NOT a "rare" at all and many people really ARE too damned stupid or greedy to choose their own food.

The N.Y. Times article is propaganda! In NYC alone, the food stamp program FRAUD is extremely high! People are making money off it by claiming that they need it and then buying nonperishable things and sending the packages off to places like the Dominican Republic ( that's where the biggest trafficking was going on just a couple of years ago ) to friends or relations, who sell the stuff on the black market.

Then there are the multitude of cases, all over this nation, of food stamp misuse ( using them to buy soda, candy, other junk and/or VERY expensive items like lobster )that have been reported on, for a very long time.

[cincinnati65]

GROSSLY under reported.

[ealgeone]

Having worked in the grocery business I call their figure bogus.

[LegendHasIt]

Maybe 1.3% are actually caught and punished for doing it.

But I’d bet at least 50% engage in it.

[gibsonguy]

“All because the food stamp program has a fraud rate of 1.3%. “

Bull Shit. So you believe the NYT? You are a fool if you do.

[9YearLurker]

And what of the percentage of overall food stamps benefits that go to illegals?

[ChiMark]

Illegals do get big percentage of food stamps or EBT cards. Read on Brietbart that 52% of food stamps recipient are able body adults not having disabilities.

[Vendome]

Bingo

[Cowgirl of Justice]

Stop the illegal getting food stamps.

How much does that cost us?

[FrdmLvr]

I agree, at least that high.

[i_robot73]

>
Trump thinks that disabled veterans are too stupid to choose their own foods. He wants to make that choice for them, all because the food stamp program has a fraud rate of 1.3%.
>

The ‘fraud’ rate is 100%: wholly illegal/unconstitutional (5th & 13th, at the least).

Rather they terminate any/*ALL* welfare and solve a plethora of ‘problems’ in one go.

[Fhios]

I hope that’s a summary you’re providing and not an opinion.

1.2% is way to low. Under reported. Vouchers and EBT cards are sold or charged for phantom sales and the buyer and seller split the cash. That’s rampant and quite possibly accounts for up to 10% of food stamp fraud thats unreported.

The 1.2% fraud number is probably the known fraudsters collecting food stamps when they aren’t entitled. Still it’s low.

Let me give you and example of dried baby formula — a hot commodity in the Food Stamp underground commodities trade. The baby food is bought and sold and exchanged to drug operations that use the dried formula to cut drugs.

You can gauge the amount of food stamp fraud in an area by drug usage, dried formula sales and what %% of adulterated formula is found in common street drugs. Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine.

[familyop]

Which states does most of the fraud occur in?