During a time when there are many people who rely on food stamps to put a meal on the table, food stamp fraud is rampant and goes unchecked due to the limited resources and lack of state law. Selling food stamps, also called trafficking is a federal offense but there no particular laws that allow authorities to prosecute people doing this.

Food stamp fraud is the intentional concealment, misrepresentation or withholding information so one could get public assistance or food stamp benefits. Nobody really knows how much federal taxpayer lose to this fraud each year. Physical food stamps these days have been replace by electronic cards. A foods stamp trafficking happens when recipients swipe their benefits card but instead of purchasing groceries, they receive an amount of cash discounted and the retailer gets the difference.

Another kind of fraud includes misuse of the program’s electronic benefits transfer. Some try to buy ineligible items on the cards. When this occurs, both the recipient and retailer are technically guilty of fraud. Falsifying information is another kind of fraud, such as lying about your income, such as stating that what you earn is lesser than what it really is. Never under-report your income to get more food stamps than you are entitled to because there are hundreds of people who need these benefits the most.