Excerpt from a report on welfare fraud (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, August 2014) by the US Government Accountability Office
Welfare fraud is the act of illegally using state welfare systems by knowingly withholding or giving information to obtain more funds than would otherwise be allocated.
This article deals with welfare fraud in various countries of the world, and includes many social benefit programs such as food assistance, housing, unemployment benefits, Social Security, disability, and medical. Each country's problems and programs are varied.
Obtaining reliable evidence of welfare fraud is notoriously difficult.[1] Apart from the obvious methodological problems, research reveals that interviewing performance is often mediocre, and may be anecdotal, misunderstood, or collected from opinionated or biased caseworkers.[2] Interviews with non-citizen welfare recipients, where the interviewer has succeeded in gaining a high level of trust, have shown that a very high percent fail to report incomes.[3][4] Official figures of the prevalence of welfare fraud based on government investigation tend to be low – a few percent of the total amount of welfare spending. Statistical research indicates that the vast majority of fraud is committed by businesses serving the recipients of government benefits.[5] Welfare or benefits fraud committed by recipients is usually of very modest sums, and is committed by people who struggle with poverty; but once started it often continues after reaching financial stability.[6][7]
^Mathieu Lefebvre, Pierre Pestieau, Arno Riedl, Marie Claire Villeval: Tax Evasion, Welfare Fraud, and "The Broken Windows" Effect: An Experiment in Belgium, France and the Netherlands CESifo Working Paper 3408, April 2011.
^(Dave Walsh and Ray Bull: Benefit Fraud Investigative Interviewing: A Self-Report Study of Investigation Professionals' Beliefs Concerning Practice Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, vol. 8 issue 2, June 2011.)
^Shiri Regev-Messalem: (2013), Claiming Citizenship: The Political Dimension of Welfare Fraud. Law and Social Inquiry, vol. 38 Issue 4 (Fall 2013).
^Kaaryn S. Gustafson: Cheating Welfare: Public Assistance and the Criminalization of Poverty p. 160. NYU Press, 2012.
^"Who is Really Responsible for Welfare Fraud?". April 2014.
^Martin James Tunley: Need, greed or opportunity? An examination of who commits benefit fraud and why they do it Security Journal vol. 24 issue 4 (November 2010).
^B. Kazemier, R. Van Eck, C.C. Koopmans: "Economische aspekten van belasting – en premie ontduiking en misbruik van sociale uitkeringen." In D.J. Hessing & H.P.A.M. Arendonk (Eds.): Sociale-Zekerheidsfraude: Juridische, ekonomische en psychologische aspecten van fraud in het sociale-zekerheidsstelsel, pp. 123-90. Dewenter 1990, Kluwer. Cited in
D.J. Hessing, H. Elffers, H.S.J. Robben, P. Webley: Needy or greedy? The social psychology of individuals who fraudulently claim unemployment benefits Journal of Applied Social Psychology vol. 23, issue 3 (1993).
Welfarefraud is the act of illegally using state welfare systems by knowingly withholding or giving information to obtain more funds than would otherwise...
means, child endangerment, or manipulation. The media's coverage of welfarefraud began in the early 1960s and was featured in general-interest publications...
committed extensive welfarefraud and, after the publication of an article in the Chicago Tribune in fall 1974, became identified as the "welfare queen". Accounts...
specifically consider the Tax and Customs Administration's approach to welfarefraud. In late 2013, the committee prepared a letter to the House of Representatives...
Benefit fraud is a form of welfarefraud as found within the system of government benefits paid to individuals by the welfare state in the United Kingdom...
charges for welfarefraud". KHQ-TV. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018. "Rachel Dolezal charged with welfarefraud". The Sacramento...
"Octomom Pleads No Contest to WelfareFraud". ABC. Retrieved 15 July 2014. "'Octomom' pleads no contest to welfarefraud, gets community service". Los...
led to an inflated number of people receiving welfare benefits. The tolerance of fraud of the social welfare system generally decreases with high unemployment...
they have one. Criticisms of welfare Benefit fraudWelfarefraud "Disability Fraud - Disability Scam". How To Report Fraud at Bustathief.com. 3 April 2008...
decides to dump it from a blimp at the Super Bowl. He is arrested for welfarefraud and must await his family's rescue, as well as various performers who...
Over $2M in Welfare Amid Son's Embezzlement Probe". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 14, 2020. "Ted DiBiase's son pleads guilty to fraud in the largest...
special inspectors who investigated and visited the homes of suspected "welfare cheats" in the Canadian province of Quebec during the second government...
convicted and sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for orchestrating a welfarefraud scheme. Lyle is the son of Rulon Jeffs, who was president of the FLDS...
the supposed fraud in public programs in his first inaugural address. During his presidency, welfare spending tighetened and the anti-fraud rhetoric was...
family or Davis County Cooperative Society with the intention of finding welfarefraud. The State of Utah stated: "It was a specific investigation that we...
with law enforcement, having previously been charged with check and welfarefraud. Mobley described Williams as "no felon" and insisted that Williams...
who has full responsibility of a specific investigative program (e.g. welfarefraud) and has at least one subordinate of the Investigator IV level (type...
making "defamatory charges" about Favre's involvement in a $77 million welfarefraud scheme. A representative for Favre stated that Sharpe and McAfee "tried...
imprisoned when Triplett falsely reported her to the authorities for welfarefraud; the children were placed in foster care. When Gardner was eight years...
profitability of crimes such as smuggling, tender fraud and state capture, besides tax evasion and VAT fraud itself, due to the alleged inefficiency and lack...
arrest for a disputed welfarefraud conviction, caused extensive controversy around Ontario Works, the Ontario government's welfare system. Rogers' death...
abuse, including aggressive fundraising quotas, sleep deprivation, welfarefraud, and blackmail. Neighbors to the church's residential properties have...
intolerant view of welfarefraud in Canadian politics, affected the government's standing. A controversial news story about welfarefraud among British Columbia's...
job; he lived off welfare and had his working adult children give him all their earnings. In 1989, Wesson was convicted of welfarefraud and perjury. The...
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