Introduction
Identity theft is a growing crisis in the United States. As the crime becomes more visible, stories of victims' complex experiences permeate the media. Identity theft occurs when someone invades your life, taking pieces of your personal identifying information as his or her own, and ruins your financial reputation. In addition, victims of this crime face extreme difficulties attempting to clear the damaged credit, or even criminal record, caused by the thief. (privacy rights)
Issue
In my point of view the identity theft which is not commonly taken in consideration is the identity theft in human and human services. The reason behind this being a serious issue is that according to HHSC-OIG, most eligibility fraud cases involve recipients providing false information or withholding information to obtain additional benefits from food stamps or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
This usually involves misrepresentation of income and resources or the misuse of benefits. TANF funds are not restricted by use, so fraud in that program is limited to misrepresentations of eligibility, not misuse of benefits. Food stamp transactions are limited to purchases of food, so misuse can occur if a recipient uses those benefits to obtain an item that is not allowed under the program. Generally, inappropriate use of food stamp benefits involves the sale of benefits by a recipient to a retailer in exchange for cash.
HHSC-OIG has investigated cases in which the recipient tried to assist a friend; there have also been instances in which the proof of eligibility was sold to another individual who wanted acute care services.
However, these types of identity fraud have been relatively uncommon compared to other types of fraud. In fact, according to HHSC-OIG, these types of fraud are so rare that they do not have a separate category, which calculates its overall........
