Massachusetts lets SNAP, other public benefits fraudsters keep 97 cents of every stolen $1: report

Massachusetts is recovering SNAP and other fraudulently obtained public benefits at a rate of just 2.7%, equal to roughly $2.69 for every $100 stolen, according to a new, outside review that follows the state acknowledging over $1 million in such fraud in the first six months of this year.

The outside review was conducted by Lexis-Nexis's Risk Solutions Government Group.

“Massachusetts is no different than any state in the country, except that they’re still in denial about the scale and scope of the problem,” Haywood Talcove, the group's CEO and government fraud expert, told The Boston Herald, in a story the newspaper published Friday. 

Talcove appears to attribute the problem to understaffing and outdated technology.

“They have less than 10 frontline investigators in the state, so their ability to detect fraud is as limited as their technology to find it," he said. "They are significantly undercounting the fraud, and they don’t even have the mechanism to recoup the dollars that have been stolen."

The Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor released a report in September detailing $10.6 million in public-benefits fraud uncovered by its Bureau of Special Investigations in those first six months of this year, which is also the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2026.

The bureau found such fraud tied to 402 of 2,223 total cases in that timeframe. 

The vast majority of the fraud was found in the state’s SNAP and Medicaid programs. 

MassHealh – which provides health benefits and helps pay for them for qualifying children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities living in Massachusetts – accounting for 57% of the roughly $6.1 million in stolen funds. SNAP accounted for 36.3% of the fraud, or roughly $3.9 million over the same period, The Herald also reports.

The totals appear to be a significant increase compared to the $4.4 million uncovered by the auditor in the first two quarters of fiscal 2026.

Meanwhile, the state has recovered just $285,339 of the $10.6 million total, which equals the 2.7% and the  $2.69 for every $100 stolen through fraud figures.

The administration of Democrat Gov. Maura Healey says 95% of the cases in the Massachusetts auditor’s report were referred by state agencies.

“Our goal is to make sure Massachusetts residents who need assistance can access the benefits they qualify for, while protecting these critical programs from fraud and abuse,” a spokesperson for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services told the Herald. “The figures in the Auditor’s report do not capture the full scope of the state’s efforts to recover funds and protect taxpayer dollars."

Talcove says every states must share information about SNAP benefits recipients with the federal government to root out fraud. 

However, Healey has reportedly declined to do so because, she says, the Trump administration has given her no assurances that the data will not be passed on to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.