FraudKast | Fraud on the Front Lines: Inside the Government Fraud You Never See | Nationwide | Government Fraud

Government fraud does not always begin with a sophisticated scheme. Sometimes it starts with a fraudulent benefits application, a fake business or a weakness in the verification process that allows a bad actor through the front door.

In this episode of FraudKast, Woody Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Government, speaks with Amanda D’Amico, Sr. Director, Market Planning, Government Decisioning Insights and Mark Haskins, Ph.D., Fraud Risk Consultant, about the fraud they have seen on the front lines and why stopping it before funds are distributed is so important.

The discussion highlights a recent SNAP fraud case involving millions of dollars and hundreds of identities. With individual SNAP benefits relatively small, reaching that scale requires fraudulent activity to occur repeatedly. The case illustrates how weaknesses in application and enrollment processes can allow bad actors to exploit government benefit programs at significant scale.

Fraudulent retailers present another challenge. As SNAP payment options have expanded to include mobile and online vendors, so have opportunities for fraud. The experts explore how criminals can exploit vulnerabilities involving retailers and payment methods, highlighting why government programs need to look beyond individual benefit recipients when assessing fraud risk.

Even when information is available that could flag potential fraud, high application volumes, processing pressures and siloed workflows can make it difficult for agencies to act on those signals. The discussion explores why identifying those risks earlier can make a significant difference.

The conversation makes clear that fraud can take many forms, and stopping it requires looking beyond individual transactions to the vulnerabilities that allow schemes to succeed. From benefit recipients and retailers to emerging payment threats, the episode explores where government programs remain exposed and what can be done to strengthen protections at the front end.

Listen to the full FraudKast episode, Fraud on the Front Lines: Inside the Government Fraud You Never See, to hear more from Woody Talcove, Amanda D’Amico and Mark Haskins about the fraud they’ve encountered firsthand and what government agencies can do to detect and prevent it.