Fraud and Collections
Todd County actively pursues and investigates suspected public assistance fraudulent activity. Public assistance recipients who commit welfare fraud may be subject to administrative actions and criminal prosecution. This could result in felony level charges, sentencing, and program disqualification of benefits.
Public assistance fraud can occur when receipts of benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; Food Support), Cash Assistance, Medical Assistance, and Child Care intentionally provide false information or conceals facts about their situation in order to receive benefits they are not entitled to, or to receive more assistance than they are eligible for. A person who helps someone commit fraud is also committing public assistance fraud.
Public assistance fraud can include:
- False or misleading information about employment, income, assets, residency, household composition, and absentee parents of children.
- Receiving duplicate benefits across multiple states.
- Selling or trading EBT benefits (Cash Assistance or SNAP).
- Perjury and forgery.
To make a report of suspected fraud or abuse of public assistance programs:
- Online: Minnesota Fraud Hotline Form (https://fraudhotline.dhs.mn.gov/)
- Phone: Call the Program Integrity Oversight hotline at 1-800-657-3750 or contact Todd County directly at 320-732-4500.
- Email: Investigations.DHS@state.mn.us .
- Mail: Send a letter via US Mail to the Office of Inspector General – Program Integrity and Oversight Division, PO Box 64982, St. Paul, MN 55164-0982.
Every report is reviewed. You may be contacted for more information however updates regarding any report are not provided. Reports can be made anonymously.
Additional resources, information and guidance on how to report fraud is available at the MN DHS website https://mn.gov/dhs/general-public/office-of-inspector-general/report-fraud/.