The billions spent on the state’s wildly condemned right-to-shelter law triggered SNAP fraud so widespread it even left new migrants with empty EBT cards, a food stamp official tells the Herald.

This mid-level employee in a SNAP-EBT office under the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) is blowing the whistle on the alleged “rampant” and “unabated” fraud and abuse of taxpayer-paid benefits in the Bay State.

The DTA denied the whistleblower’s allegations saying, in part, “The Department of Transitional Assistance takes every allegation of fraud seriously and has robust systems in place to identify fraud and protect the people of Massachusetts.”

The agency added, “SNAP fraud is very rare. Less than 1% of the Massachusetts caseload was found to have committed fraud in FY25.” In a long defense, a DTA spokesman emailed that “extensive actions” are taken “to protect clients from being victimized by fraud.”

That’s not what a whistleblower sees first-hand, the Herald was told.

“DTA is a pretty big organization. I’ve tried to go through the proper channels to speak to supervisors and managers about patterns that are just as blatant as they can be and there’s a lot of pressure to just sort of push things down and say, ‘you know, they’ve got someone who does that. It’s not your department, that’s not your role.’ That type of thing,” said the whistleblower.

The whistleblower detailed to the Herald several concerns with the DTA’s upper management and leadership, including setting a “tone of normalcy” surrounding drastic increases in SNAP-EBT fraud throughout the state and “in spite of intermittent outcries from staff.”

They also shared internal documents, emails and other communications, including summaries of monthly and quarterly meetings where they and other mid-level staffers repeatedly tried to address and convince leadership to further pursue fraud and abuse within the program.

“So many things have stood out to me and I just couldn’t escape my conscience this week with the latest fraud announced and just the brazenness of it,” they said.

The DTA staffer also went on to warn that the general public may not be aware just how rampant SNAP-EBT fraud has become in Massachusetts, even despite recent schemes uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the state Auditor’s Office. The whistleblower credits the sharp rise in fraud to unfettered illegal immigration during the Biden Administration, tracing the start of the uptick in fraud cases back to around 2021.

“About four or five years ago, we had a very drastic uptick of not just people who are saying their cards were missing or that someone unapproved was using it, but also people by the dozens coming in and saying they went to shop on the day they get their benefits and there was nothing on their card,” the whistleblower said. “Then we come to find that $578 was used yesterday in Pennsylvania, for example, with the recipient not having been in Pennsylvania.”

‘Tread lightly’

The DTA employee added that the lack of effective action taken by the state has made many SNAP fraud victims reluctant to even continue reporting fraudulent activity.

But efforts to root out fraud from the get-go, they say, are being stymied by management during the SNAP-EBT application process, saying DTA staffers at their level are being discouraged from asking even the most basic and expected questions to verify identity. They say employees have been ordered to “tread lightly” during the vetting process for immigrants.

“We’re even being limited in the ways we’re able to vet migrants applying for benefits, including with standard questions that a case manager would ask. Do you know how many times an interview with a migrant applicant goes haywire just because I asked where they live? They’ll tell me they live ‘around here,’ but won’t give me a specific address. And that’s how you’re starting off a screening interview, with the interpreter also puzzled that you’re getting pushback from the applicant and higher-ups at your office for asking for proof that a given address is valid,” said the whistleblower.

“DTA just wants us to, you know, peek in and extract information regarding possible fraud and move on. The reports are designed so that we can’t look further. We can’t see what groceries are on the list of transactions or other items. They just tell us it’s for the investigators to look into,” the staffer said.

Going hungry

In addition to the restraint forced upon rank and file DTA employees for vetting adults, the whistleblower says fraudsters already receiving SNAP benefits will try to add children onto their case, many times providing a simple hand-written note stating they have a child they’d like to add with no verification of their relationship to the child, the child’s address, school or any immunization reports from doctors’ visits.

The whistleblower also delved into the sad, but true, consequences the fraud in Massachusetts has had on the most vulnerable of recipients who need SNAP benefits the most.

They say many innocent recipients will go to access their benefits on the day they’re scheduled to be deposited to their EBT cards, only to find no remaining funds due to several bogus purchases made in and out of state to fake vendors just seconds apart from each other.

Despite the drastic uptick in reported fraud cases and numerous outcries from themself and their coworkers, the whistleblower says upper management within the DTA leadership has been dragging their feet in implementing enhanced measures to further root out fraud.

“I’d have to say that they’re (DTA) not giving the best effort in rooting out fraud and abuse, and I still work there, so it feels like almost a big betrayal. But, just being observant of the pattern of negligence that I’ve seen, and having tried to get more involved in more conversations about this with management. I feel like I’ve been shouting from the rooftops for a couple of years, and now I’m like, ‘Okay, so what’s happening now? Is anything being recouped? What are the next steps?’ And the answers are, are just so empty and insincere,” they said.

Email proof

The whistleblower shared several emails they sent to superiors flagging increasing amounts of reported SNAP fraud, only to receive obligatory responses instructing them to follow current protocol and indicating there is nothing else that can be done.

In one email to a superior in April 2025, the whistleblower flagged an “unusually high” amount of benefit theft claims from March, asking if there had been any recent anticipated changes to processing claim reports. The supervisor responded by indicating that there have been no changes made in processing claims and that the benefits will most likely not be recovered.

In an August 2025 email to a supervisor flagging substantial fraud that stole one victim’s benefits every month over the course of several months, the whistleblower requested guidance on how to proceed. The supervisor responded by simply instructing the whistleblower to tell the client to create a new pin on the new EBT card issued to them and to lock the card.

This directive was given despite the same method resulting in the client’s benefits being stolen just before this situation. There was no communication from the supervisor on whether there would be an effort to recoup the stolen benefits for the client.

The inability of the DTA to replace stolen SNAP benefits is partly due to President Trump cutting off federal funds to replace stolen benefits when he signed the American Relief Act of 2025, which did not renew funding for stolen benefits. The funding expired in December.

“There comes a point where the administration says, ‘your numbers are all over the place and your fraud rate is through the roof. We can’t fund you anymore. You’re gonna have to use your own emergency funding, if there is more theft going on,’” the whistleblower said.

In response, the DTA sent an agency-wide email on July 10 informing employees of the federal funding update, stating that the Healey-Driscoll Administration is “disappointed” in the legislation.

“The Healey-Driscoll Administration is disappointed in the passage of this legislation that will have negative impacts on eligibility, benefit levels and state funding requirements, leading to significant impacts on our clients and our partners,” DTA leadership told employees, also providing a list of five talking points to use with clients concerned about their stolen benefits. The  talking points did not provide any information regarding how the DTA will prevent further fraud, what clients can do to further protect themselves from fraud, or if their benefits will be replaced by the state.

In another email sent to the entire agency, dated October 24, DTA leadership informed employees that November SNAP benefits were at risk due to the then-ongoing federal government shutdown. The email also informed employees of a robocall and text message campaign informing clients of the pending issue that featured extremely partisan language blaming President Trump and Congressional Republicans for pending cuts.

“President Trump is currently choosing to not issue November SNAP benefits that help you and many families put food on the table,” the language in the planned text and robocall campaign reads. “You also may have your benefits further cut starting in November because of changes Congressional Republicans and President Trump enacted in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Learn more and check back for updates at mass.gov/dta.”

Federal fraud fighters

As federal investigations and state audits play out in the effort to rid Massachusetts of SNAP fraud, the whistleblower says they feel the situation in the Bay State is approaching the level of severity seen in Minnesota, where billions of dollars in public assistance fraud have been uncovered.

“I think that everybody would be at a level of collective awe if they knew how much fraud is going on in the Massachusetts SNAP-EBT program. It’s just unbelievable how much money is going to waste. It gives you a chill to think that that money in Massachusetts that feeds people could be and currently is missing on such a large scale,” the whistleblower said. “I’ve been paying attention to what’s been happening in Minnesota and in Maine and just the absolute brazen and widespread fraud going on there feels extremely similar to what I have seen here in Massachusetts. And it’s all very organized.”

On Friday, after the Herald inquired with the agency on the whistleblower’s claims, the DTA implemented new changes to its protocol to “reduce the payment error rate,” limiting the use of self-declarations by recipients for shelter, utility, medical and dependent care expenses. The whistleblower says the previous, long-standing policy allowed recipients to self-declare rent and other expenses without any proof.

The surge in illegal immigration has cost Massachusetts billions of dollars ever since Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency over the issue in 2023, utilizing the “Right to Shelter” law to provide free housing, food, and other services to thousands of migrants. The administration spent over $940 million in FY25 and $894 million in FY24 on housing and feeding illegal immigrants and shelter dwellers. Healey ended the state of emergency in August 2025.

The whistleblower’s claims come as the U.S. Attorney’s Office has announced a new fraud coordinator position modeled after President Trump’s new fraud czar and as Gov. Healey continues to refuse turning over SNAP recipient data to the USDA.

It also follows the discovery of several recent SNAP fraud schemes in Massachusetts, including a $7 million scheme run by two Haitian nationals uncovered in December, the recent $1 million scheme busted by the Feds last week, and nearly $12 million in public benefits fraud, including $4.1 million in SNAP fraud, uncovered by the state Auditor’s Office.

An agency-wide email from DTA leadership in October detailed a robocall to affected clients blaming President Trump and Congressional Republicans for “choosing to not issue November SNAP benefits that help you and many families put food on the table.”
A screenshot of one SNAP victim’s transaction history shows fraud wiping out their balance as soon as their benefits are deposited. This recipient was victimized two months in a row. (Screenshot provided by DTA whistleblower)
A screenshot of one SNAP victim’s transaction history shows fraud wiping out their balance with bogus purchases at fake vendors. (Screenshot provided by DTA whistleblower)