These 14 Stole 16 Million In Welfare, Look What Happened Next In 2014, food stamp benefits cost the American public $74.1 billion in 2014, supplying 46.5 million Americans with benefits. The lowest level of fraud, say 5%, can amount to billions in wasted funds, and contrary to public belief, the most popular method of food stamp fraud is trading in cards for cash. Finally, the government is taking steps to counteract this. In April, the USDA passed a rule allowing states the option to require SNAP recipients to make contact with the state when there have been an excessive number of requests for EBT card replacements in a year. Requesting replacement cards can indicate a client is exchanging their SNAP cards for cash. In a recent case in Baltimore, fourteen people were arrested in raids that amounted to a total of $16 million in food stamp fraud. More than a dozen retail store operators were charged in connection to the foodstamp and wire fraud scheme. They obtained more than $16,482,270 in EBT deposits for transactions in which food sales never occurred or were substantially inflated. What do you think? Do we need significant measures in place to make sure this doesnt happen? 