When a person misrepresents their income, family members, or disability status on government forms, they can defraud the US government of thousands of dollars. Welfare Fraud is a familiar and severe problem in America. Over 10% of all federal welfare payments are filed dishonestly, and this figure is expected to increase as COVID-19 threatens nationwide economic stability. Welfare investigations are crucial to maintaining the ethical standards of social benefits programs and making sure funding goes to people in need.
When filling out government documents or benefits applications, scammers misreport their actual circumstances to nickel-and-dime social services organizations. Claiming additional dependents, misreporting unemployment status, and falsely documenting disabilities are common fraud tactics, and they can be difficult for investigators to trace.
Implication: Welfare fraud is not a victimless crime. The US government loses an estimated $100 Billion annually by overpaying benefits to scammers. By misdirecting government funding, scammers limit the amount of resources provided to actual impoverished people. During COVID-19, the economic effects of fraud compiled with emergency relief payments will be severe.
Investigators can leverage Pipl SEARCH to uncover the identities and criminal actions of welfare fraudsters. When you type a single attribute of a fraud suspect into Pipl SEARCH, our software yields an identity profile with data cross-referenced and assembled from 25 billion records. Your team can probe the identity profile for suspicious behaviors or document misrepresentations. For more details on how Pipl SEARCH helps investigators uncover welfare fraud, click here for our Government web page..