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How common is SNAP fraud in the United States in 2023 or 2024?
Executive summary
Government data and contemporary reporting show SNAP improper payments and theft have been significant and rising concerns in 2023–2024. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 11.7% of SNAP outlays in FY2023—about $10.5 billion—were improper (wrong amount or should not have been made) [1]; separate USDA-tracked “stolen benefits” replacements since mid‑2023 exceed $100 million [2].
1. What “fraud” and “improper payments” mean for SNAP
The USDA’s FY2023 figure cited by the Government Accountability Office counts “improper” payments — a broad category that includes administrative error, eligibility mistakes, and fraud — not only deliberate criminal theft [1]. Reporting and advocacy outlets sometimes conflate “improper payments,” “overpayments,” and explicit theft of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) funds; USDA’s 11.7% estimate refers to all improper payments in SNAP outlays for FY2023 [1].
2. Scale: headline numbers and what they represent
The GAO summary of USDA reporting places FY2023 improper payments at 11.7% of SNAP outlays — roughly $10.5 billion of about $90.1 billion (excluding disaster/emergency allotments) [1]. Separately, USDA datasets and press reporting show more than $102 million in stolen benefits were replaced by the federal government since the second quarter of FY2023, per Newsweek’s aggregation of USDA trackers [2]. Those stolen-benefits totals are a subset of the larger “improper payments” number [1] [2].
3. Geographic hotspots, reports and claims from states and outlets
Local and national reporting documents waves of EBT theft and replacement claims: nearly 177,000 reported fraud incidents across 46 reporting states in Q1 2024, with concentrated case counts in states like New York (over 16,000 in a quarter) and Maryland (declines from 11,083 in Q4 2023 to 9,466 in Q1 2024 noted) [3]. New York state lawmakers and briefs cite tens of thousands of EBT fraud claims and estimate about $17 million reported stolen in Jan 2022–Oct 2023 in New York specifically [4] [5].
4. Types of schemes and law‑enforcement responses
Reporting and DOJ press releases show criminal networks using skimming devices, stolen EBT credentials, and organized resale schemes that can move millions: a federal indictment in Oregon charged 17 people allegedly tied to more than $2.4 million in fraudulent SNAP purchases between Aug 2023 and Oct 2024 [6]. Local reporting describes similar skimming/EBT‑account takeover operations and consequent prosecutions [7] [6].
5. Trends: rising detections, replacement payouts, and agency focus
Multiple sources indicate a growing detection and replacement workload. USDA’s stolen‑benefits tracker and aggregated reporting show steep increases in approved stolen‑benefit claims and in fraudulent transaction counts between late FY2024 and early FY2025 (for example, fraudulent transactions rising from ~444,553 to ~691,604 in one quarter) and more than $100 million replaced since mid‑2023 [2] [8]. USDA and state programs have sought grants and frameworks to strengthen detection, analytics, and fraud investigations [9].
6. Costs beyond direct benefit loss
Industry analysis reports that the downstream cost of fraud to agencies is larger than the value of benefits stolen: a 2024 LexisNexis study found agencies incur roughly $3.93 in costs for every $1 of benefits lost to fraud [10]. That includes administrative time, investigations, and replacement processing — factors that amplify the fiscal and operational impact beyond headline theft amounts [10].
7. Areas of disagreement, data limits and what reporting doesn’t say
Sources agree fraud and improper payments are substantial but differ in emphasis: USDA/GAO frame a comprehensive improper‑payment problem (11.7% in FY2023) that includes errors and fraud [1], while news outlets highlight EBT theft incidents and replacement payouts as evidence of criminal targeting [2] [3]. Available sources do not provide a single, universally agreed breakdown of how much of the 11.7% is deliberate criminal fraud versus administrative error or eligibility mistakes — the USDA figure groups those causes together [1].
8. What to watch next and policy responses
Federal and state actors are pursuing both enforcement and technology changes: grant programs and fraud‑framework rollouts aim to improve proactive detection, and law enforcement is pursuing organized skimming rings [9] [6]. Reporting suggests agencies plan more analytics and retailer integrity work, but GAO noted USDA OIG findings on compliance gaps and recommended further action to bolster oversight [1].
Bottom line: official oversight reporting pegs FY2023 SNAP improper payments at 11.7% (~$10.5 billion) while separate USDA and media tallies document more than $100 million in replaced stolen benefits since mid‑2023; the larger “improper payments” figure includes but is not limited to explicit criminal fraud [1] [2].