Tag: fraud

SNAP Benefits Go To 186,000 Dead People… And Stopping Them Might Be Difficult

President Donald Trump’s anti-fraud efforts have brought renewed focus on issues plaguing the welfare system, including the millions of dollars in food stamps that are being sent to dead recipients.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report last month stating that 185,986 deceased people in 29 states were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as of July 1, 2025, at an annual cost of $419.6 million. It also reported an additional $3 billion in potential fraud, waste, and abuse.

On May 21, a federal jury convicted a man who stole the identity of Carlos Ramon Obregon, who was killed in a 1977 Los Angeles drive-by shooting. Decades after the 14-year-old’s death, the defendant used the dead teen’s identity to collect about $283,000 in government benefits, including SNAP benefits, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and COVID-19 payments.

That’s just one example that the administration has outlined to highlight the issue. Here’s what to know about the problem of dead recipients, which has been lingering for decades.

Renewed Focus by Trump Admin

Trump directed federal agencies via executive order in March 2025 to ensure “unfettered access” to data from federally funded state programs such as SNAP, also known as food stamps.

In response, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service told state agencies on May 6, 2025, that all records associated with SNAP must be made available to the federal government.

“For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in a letter to states.

Following the USDA’s demand for detailed information on food stamp recipients to review for fraud, a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit against the USDA, accusing the agency of unlawfully demanding massive amounts of sensitive SNAP recipient data.

Keep reading

Trump DOJ Announces Largest-Ever Effort to Denaturalize U.S. Citizens Accused of Immigration Fraud or Concealing Serious Crimes

The Trump DOJ is dramatically expanding its campaign to revoke US citizenship from naturalized Americans accused of hiding terrorism ties, violent crimes, immigration fraud, and other serious misconduct during the naturalization process.

The new push, according to reports, marks one of the most aggressive uses of denaturalization in modern American history and reflects President Donald Trump’s broader America First effort to restore consequences inside an immigration system that has been abused for decades.

The Department of Justice announced cases against roughly a dozen foreign-born US citizens, with targets originally from countries including Iraq, Somalia, China, India, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Bolivia.

Officials said the cases involve allegations ranging from concealed terror affiliations and war crimes to child sexual abuse, sham marriages, false identities, and immigration fraud.

The message is quite clear: American citizenship is not a shield for foreign criminals who lied to obtain it. Naturalization, they argue, is a privilege granted by the United States—not a loophole for people who concealed dangerous pasts.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would pursue those who misrepresented themselves to become Americans.

Anyone “who intentionally concealed their criminal histories or misrepresented themselves during the naturalization process will face the fullest extent of the law,” Blanche said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

One of the most serious cases involves Ali Yousif Ahmed, who obtained citizenship after claiming he fled Iraq in 2009 because al Qaeda terrorists had attacked his family. Authorities now say Iraq sought his extradition in 2019 after he allegedly murdered two Iraqi police officers while serving as an al Qaeda leader.

Federal officials allege Ahmed omitted that information from the U.S. government. The case has become a stark example of why Trump officials say deeper scrutiny is needed before and after citizenship is granted.

Another case involves Salah Osman Ahmed of Somalia, who naturalized in 2007 and later pleaded guilty in 2009 to providing material support for terrorists and belonging to al Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

The Justice Department argues that joining a terrorist organization within five years of naturalization can be grounds for revoking citizenship. For immigration hawks, the case underscores the danger of treating citizenship as irreversible even when national-security issues emerge.

The crackdown also includes Oscar Alberto Pelaez, a Colombian-born Catholic priest convicted in the United States of 13 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, including sodomy. Authorities allege he lied about the crimes during the naturalization process.

Another target, Abduvosit Razikov of Uzbekistan, allegedly entered into a sham marriage to obtain citizenship. Other cases include individuals accused of using false identities, concealing serious crimes, or committing immigration fraud.

In a separate announcement, the Justice Department said it is seeking to denaturalize Manuel Rocha, a former American diplomat who admitted in a criminal case to acting as a Cuban spy.

The Rocha case points to a broader concern: the United States must be willing to revoke citizenship when people obtain it through deceit and then use American status against American interests.

Denaturalization has historically been rare. Between 1990 and 2017, the federal government filed just over 300 such cases, averaging roughly 11 per year.

Keep reading

India’s Fake Degree Racket Exposes Systemic Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Skilled Immigration Program

In late 2025, Kerala Police in India dismantled a multi-state fake degree racket, arresting 11 suspects and seizing over 100,000 counterfeit certificates linked to around 22 universities or institutions. Authorities estimated that up to 1 million fraudulent degrees could be in circulation. The forged documents primarily targeted fields like medicine, nursing, and engineering, and were sold for ₹75,000 to ₹1.5 lakh (roughly $900–$1,800 USD).

One institution highlighted in related reporting is Manav Bharti University, which reportedly sold about 36,025 fake degrees while awarding far fewer legitimate ones (around 5,455). Fake degrees from such operations reportedly cost as little as $1,400. 

The issue has recently reignited after Fox News anchor Kayleigh McEnany posted a video on social media highlighting concerns about the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations” requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.

In the post, McEnany cited figures on visa approvals since 2015 and referenced allegations from a former official, reported by Newsweek, regarding widespread fraud and the use of fraudulent documentation in some H-1B applications originating from India. .

These documents were allegedly used for jobs and visa applications abroad, including in the U.S. While direct links to specific approved H-1B visas would require further investigation by U.S. authorities, the scale raises serious questions about credential verification in the immigration process. 

Broader Allegations of Fraud in Indian H-1B Applications

A former U.S. consular officer, Mahvash Siddiqui, who adjudicated thousands of visas (including many H-1Bs) at the U.S. consulate in Chennai, India, alleged in 2025 that 80–90% of H-1B applications from the region involved fraudulent documentation or unqualified applicants. She described forged degrees, transcripts, employment letters, and other supporting materials, often facilitated by visa consultancies. 

India dominates H-1B approvals (often around 70% in recent years), making these claims particularly relevant to program integrity. 

U.S. agencies like USCIS and the Department of Labor have long acknowledged fraud risks in the H-1B program, including indicators such as wage violations, benching (non-payment while awaiting projects), and misrepresentation of job duties or worksites. Audits have previously found notable fraud rates. uscis.gov 

Keep reading

Revealed: Nearly Half of All Immigrants in Minneapolis-St. Paul Found to Have Committed Immigration Fraud!

This is just shocking!

Nearly half of all immigrants in Minneapolis-St. Paul were found to have committed immigration fraud.

A 2025  report by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services focused on more than 1,000 cases that had fraud or ineligibility indicators, conducted over 900 site visits and in-person interviews, and found evidence of fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases—44 percent of cases interviewed.

This report came out BEFORE YouTuber and investigator Nick Shirley reported on the massive fraud taking place in the Somali-run child care centers in Minnesota.

In December 2025, Shirley published video exposing massive fraud in the state.

the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation increased their presence in the state and federal funding for the childcare centers was frozen.

Minnesota’s America-hating Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is famous for committing immigration fraud by marrying her brother.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that in 2009, Ilhan Omar married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, after she had split from her first ‘husband’, Ahmed Hirsi (she was married to Hirsi in a Muslim ceremony, but not registered with the state).

Ilhan Omar eventually had children with Ahmed Hirsi (non-brother-husband) while she was still legally married to her own brother Ahmed Elmi.

Keep reading

Obamacare Fraud Estimated To Cost $25 Billion This Year: Report

Taxpayers will foot the bill for up to $25 billion in improper Obamacare payments due to organized fraud and improper enrollments in 2026, according to a June 3 report from Paragon Health Institute.

Some 6.2 million enrollments in the healthcare exchanges during the most recent open-enrollment period were improper, the report said, accounting for 27 percent of all enrollments.

The conservative think tank has studied fraud in the Obamacare program since 2024.

The problem of improper enrollments persists despite recent attempts to curtail it, and appears to involve organized efforts by unscrupulous insurance brokers, the report concluded.

Meanwhile, some industry groups have criticized the findings.

Incentives For Fraud

Obamacare’s premium subsidies, which cover 100 percent of the health coverage policy for many beneficiaries, and referral bonuses offer an incentive for both enrollees and brokers to abuse the system, the report concluded.

Researchers identified improper enrollments by comparing Obamacare data to Census Bureau population estimates. The improper enrollments were calculated by a state-by-state comparison of enrollments in the lowest income category to the number of people having that income level in the state.

The lowest income category is 100 percent to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $16,000 to $24,000 per year for an individual or about $27,000 to $41,000 for a family of three.

Enrollees with incomes at that level receive the highest subsidies. During the 2026 open enrollment period, 29 percent of enrollees chose a plan with a $0 premium.

That gives enrollees and the agents who sign people up for Obamacare an incentive to misstate their income, the report concluded.

The American Hospital Association has said Paragon’s research results are not valid due to flawed methodology. “The Census uses different income and household size definitions than the Marketplace so there is no possibility of the data matching,” the group said in an August 2025 statement. The association also said the Census relies on reported income but Obamacare asks for projected income.

The total value of Obamacare subsidies to be paid in 2026 is $88 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Agents who enroll individuals or families in Obamacare earn a commission averaging around $20 per enrollee per month for as long as the policy is active.

Obamacare received more than 23 million enrollments during the 2026 open enrollment period.

Keep reading

63 Arrested, Crypto Millions Frozen As FBI, DOJ Team Up With Meta, Coinbase And Starlink To Bust Scammers

More than 1 million scam-related online accounts were taken down, and millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency were frozen, as part of a crackdown on Southeast Asian scam networks.

The crackdown operations, conducted by U.S. and international agencies led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), began on May 18, when the DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force brought together the FBI, Royal Thai Police, and law enforcement agencies from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand to identify and disrupt criminal scam networks.

Meta, Microsoft, Starlink, and Coinbase were part of joint operations held in Washington and Bangkok, Meta said in a June 3 statement.

“More than a million online assets were disrupted as a result of the operation – including 1.4 million accounts, pages, and groups across Facebook and Instagram, 20,000 Microsoft accounts, and thousands of Starlink kits – and the Royal Thai Police has arrested 63 individuals involved in scam operations,” Meta said.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase “froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency assets tied to criminal networks.” In addition, Starlink “terminated connectivity for thousands of Starlink kits that were attributed to unlawful use,” it said.

Criminal syndicates behind the fraud have exploited millions of people globally via romance scams and investment fraud, and through utilizing forced labor. This makes coordinated disruption critical to protecting people, Meta said.

FBI Director Kash Patel thanked Meta for the company’s assistance in a June 3 post on X, and said the operation was “just the beginning!”

The DOJ said that the joint initiative interrupted malicious network connections hosted by scammers. Moreover, servers and hosting infrastructure associated with the scam networks in Southeast Asia were decommissioned.

Many scam centers are run from Laos, Cambodia, and Burma along the border with Thailand, across several industrial-scale compounds.

Keep reading

Brooke Rollins Details How Trump Admin Is Cracking Down on Food Stamp Fraud

Agriculture Department Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday during a hearing explained how the Trump administration is working to combat food stamp fraud.

Rollins wrote, “@USDA has NEVER had access to State SNAP data. Not until this Administration demanded it. That’s why every figure from years past is meaningless. From the 29 states that DID share data, we’ve already identified at least $3 billion a year in fraud. Extrapolated nationwide: more than $10 billion. This isn’t ‘erroneous payments.’ This is FRAUD — and yes, @RepAngieCraig, I know the difference. Do you?”

Rollins shared a clip of her exchange with Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN) in which the secretary explains that much of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamp, data they receive from states such as California and Minnesota cannot be trusted.

“The lowest fraud rate of any program in America is the SNAP program. You can’t be serious when you say that,” Rollins said.

She then said, “@RepShontelBrown just said the quiet part out loud: Democrats want as many people on welfare as possible. It’s remarkable.”

Keep reading

Kash Patel Unveils FBI’s “Most Wanted Fraudsters” List as Officials Announce New Medicaid Fraud Indictments

FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Wednesday that the FBI is launching a “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list as the Department of Justice investigates criminal fraud rings across the country.

Patel credited Vice President JD Vance, the chairman of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, for the idea. “Mr. Vice President, thanks to your vision, we’re here to deliver, and you see it here today,” he said.

“I want all Americans to take a look at these most wanted individuals and look at the amounts, the 10s of millions and billions of dollars in fraud that they have decimated our societies from,” Patel continued, urging Americans to provide tips on the fraudsters’ whereabouts.

Keep reading

Meta leads largest anti-scam operation with FBI and DOJ, leading to 63 arrests

Officials announced a massive, coordinated anti-scam operation led by Meta alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), Microsoft, Coinbase and Starlink, resulting in 63 arrests, millions of dollars in frozen cryptocurrency and the removal of over a million scam-related online accounts.

The initiative, announced Tuesday, represents Meta’s largest disruption campaign to date. It was described as the first coordinated effort of its kind to unite major technology companies, financial platforms and global law enforcement agencies against the broader fraud ecosystem.

Globally, recent federal efforts against these networks have resulted in the arrests of more than 300 individuals, the rescue of over 2,000 human trafficking victims and the seizure of billions in illicit cryptocurrency.

“Protecting people around the world from scams is one of our highest priorities. We’re proud to partner with industry and DOJ, FBI, Royal Thai Police, and other law enforcement agencies in taking this global fight directly to these Asia-based scam centers at their source,” said Chris Sonderby, Meta’s vice president and deputy general counsel, in a statement.

The operation spanned Washington, D.C., and Thailand, utilizing the U.S. Secret Service alongside law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand.

Authorities say these criminal networks steal billions of dollars from Americans annually through romance scams and cryptocurrency investment fraud. Several of the targeted organizations operate out of forced-labor compounds in Southeast Asia run by transnational organized crime groups.

During the crackdown, Meta has successfully removed about 1.4 million scam accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram, while the Royal Thai Police arrested 63 people suspected of having connections to the scam centers.

Keep reading

New DOJ Indictment Alleges Southern Poverty Law Center Funds Went to Hoods and Cross Burnings

On June 3, a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned a superseding indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, a second, expanded set of charges building on an original April 21 indictment,  alleging that $4.1 million in tax-exempt funds paid informants inside extremist organizations who then recruited new members and purchased materials for cross burnings and Ku Klux Klan robes and hoods.

The new charges do not target the general practice of paying informants but the DOJ’s allegation that the SPLC made these payments without disclosing them to donors and while defrauding banks.

The superseding indictment retains the original 11 counts, six of wire fraud, four of making false statements to a federally insured bank, and one of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, while expanding the alleged misconduct to include an SPLC employee’s knowledge that donor money purchased KKK garments, fuel, and wood for cross burnings. The indictment also notes the organization’s revenue and net assets grew more than 200% between 2010 and 2023.

The original 11-count indictment, announced April 21 by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, alleged the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in donor funds between 2014 and 2023 to at least nine informants embedded in groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, and a participant in the planning of the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally.

Prosecutors alleged the informants, known internally as “field sources” or “the Fs,” were paid through shell accounts while the SPLC publicly presented itself as working to dismantle those same groups. The SPLC pleaded not guilty and called the allegations false.

The indictment identifies eight informants by designation and specifies payments by group. One informant, F-9, was affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance and received more than $1 million over nine years while fundraising for the organization. Prosecutors allege F-9 also broke into the National Alliance’s headquarters in 2014, stealing 25 boxes of documents the SPLC used in a published report, then paid a second National Alliance member $6,000 to falsely claim responsibility for the theft.

Keep reading