Report: Analyst says Massachusetts allows public benefits fraudsters to keep 97 cents of every stolen dollar

Massachusetts has recovered less than 3% of the public benefits fraud investigators uncovered from January to June, prompting criticism from a fraud analyst who says the state needs stronger safeguards, the Boston Herald reported Oct. 10.

According to the report, the state has finalized the recovery of $285,339 out of $10.6 million in identified fraud — about 2.7%, or less than 3 cents for every dollar.

Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Government Group, argued that the figures show Massachusetts is leaving roughly 97 cents of every stolen dollar in fraudsters’ hands.

“Massachusetts is no different than any state in the country, except that they’re still in denial about the scale and scope of the problem,” Talcove told the Herald.

“They have less than 10 frontline investigators in the state, so their ability to detect fraud is as limited as their technology to find it. And if I was a taxpayer in Massachusetts, I would really want more controls in place,” Talcove added. “They are significantly undercounting the fraud, and they don’t even have the mechanism to recoup the dollars that have been stolen.”

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s administration, however, said the figures do not fully account for the state’s efforts to recover funds and protect taxpayer dollars, according to Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Olivia James.

“Our goal is to make sure Massachusetts residents who need assistance can access the benefits they qualify for, while protecting these critical programs from fraud and abuse,” James told the Herald.

The administration also said state agencies referred 95% of the cases in the auditor’s report, according to the Herald. 

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office released the report Sept. 30, detailing fraud that its Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) identified during the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2026, which ran from Jan. 1 through June 30. The bureau investigated 2,223 cases and reported fraud in 402 of them.

MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, accounted for roughly $6.05 million, or 57%, of the identified fraud, according to the report. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food assistance, accounted for about $3.85 million, or 36.3%.

The $10.6 million total was more than twice the $4.4 million identified during the first half of the fiscal year. 

DiZoglio said in a press release accompanying the report that her office “will continue to work with our partners to identify fraud because taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned money protected.”

Talcove urged the state to hire additional investigators, strengthen identity verification, permit outside audits, and verify eligibility before issuing benefits. He also argued that all states should share information about SNAP benefit recipients with the federal government to help identify fraudulent claims across state lines.

He told the Herald that his company, which analyzes data to help detect fraud, sees the same 10 identities being used in all 50 states.

“The states don’t see it because they’re operating in silos when it comes to sharing data,” he added, according to the outlet. “But it’s the most effective tool to stop fraud and improper payments.”

Talcove warned that recovering the money becomes more difficult once fraudsters cash the checks, saying that by then, “the money may have been converted to cash, moved across accounts, or sent out of the country.”

“Criminals lie,” he told the Herald, “and they get away with it.”