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The Facts About Food Stamp Fraud

There's too much misinformation about the U.S. government's food stamp scheme. So after some investigation, here are some facts about the benefit, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).The takeaway is that food stamp fraud ballooned during the four years through 2016 but that it still represents a tiny percentage of the program. How much did fraud grow? It jumped to $592.7 million in 2016, up a staggering 61% from $367.1 million in 2012, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The monetary figures are "Fraud Dollars Determined By Investigations." In other words, these figures are based on identified incidents. In 2016, the number of fraud investigations totaled 963,965, up more than 30% from 2012. In simple terms, if you swapped your benefits for cash, etc., or lied about your income or assets, then that's fraud. The fraud totals include what would have been given as a benefit if it had gone undetected, or what the government could recover, the USDA says. If you are concerned, then consider the following. The total cost of the SNAP benefits disbursed in 2016 was $66.5 billion, down from $74.6 billion in 2012. Those are significant figures because America is a big country.

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Forbes
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