Tighter security for SNAP benefits pursued as Maryland sees $26M in fraud

On Maryland’s path to becoming one of the country’s biggest targets for fraud aimed at benefits for lower-income residents, the problem looked, at first, like maybe it involved just a few thousand claims. But the theft went largely unchecked, and the claims, paid off by taxpayers, kept rising. By the time the state started a new reimbursement process in early 2023, what had been less than $1 million in benefits the state had to restore to victims of fraud quickly turned into $4.3 million over two years.