Concerns about the integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, have been reignited following a viral tweet alleging an EBT office employee intentionally approves all applications, regardless of eligibility. The tweet, posted by "Wall Street Apes," quoted an unnamed woman stating, > "She says she’s approving all 'applications for food stamps because times are tough and it ain’t my money'." This claim highlights a specific type of potential internal fraud that, if widespread, could significantly impact the program.
While direct statistics on employee-led application approval fraud within SNAP are not readily available, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) acknowledges that fraud in government programs is an evolving problem, with schemes becoming increasingly sophisticated. The Department of Justice has prosecuted cases of internal fraud in other federal benefit programs, such as Section 8 housing assistance, where employees manipulated application processes to approve ineligible individuals or expedite applications for personal gain. These cases underscore the vulnerability of such systems to employee misconduct.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which oversees SNAP, maintains a strong commitment to program integrity, stating that "no fraud, however big or small, will be tolerated." FNS works with state and federal partners, law enforcement, and industry experts to prevent, detect, and punish all instances of fraud. The agency employs data analytics and best practices to strengthen its anti-fraud efforts.
Broader improper payments within SNAP, which include overpayments, underpayments, and payments to ineligible recipients, remain a significant concern. The USDA reported that an estimated 11.7 percent, or approximately $10.5 billion, of SNAP benefits paid in fiscal year 2023 were improper. This figure, while not solely attributable to intentional fraud, represents a substantial financial impact. More commonly reported forms of SNAP fraud include EBT card skimming, where criminals steal benefit information, and retailer trafficking, where benefits are exchanged for cash or ineligible items. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, fraudulent SNAP benefit transactions due to skimming and cloning increased by 55 percent, reaching 691,604 instances nationwide.
Measures to combat fraud include enhanced monitoring of EBT transactions, state-level initiatives to tackle skimming, and federal legislation like the SNAP Secure Act of 2025, which aims to reinstate federal funding for victims of EBT theft. The current focus on external fraud types like skimming and trafficking indicates where the majority of reported fraudulent activity occurs, but the tweet serves as a reminder of the need for vigilance across all potential avenues of fraud, including internal administrative processes.