Officials for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) food stamp program are coming out in force to zero in on convenience stores and larger grocery stores that are trafficking food stamp benefits. Currently, the nation funds as much as $64.7 billion annually in food stamps, many of which are reserved to feed children. Special agents for the USDA have begun to employ computerized tools that include geospatial scanners, social media website tracking programs, and complex mathematical formulas to find food retailers who are illegally allowing food stamp beneficiaries to trade in their stamps for cash. Agents look for sudden increases in stamp redemptions at particular stores, or food stamp beneficiaries spending all or most of their monthly allowances during a single shopping trip. According to officials, convenience store or grocery store owners often offer to pay food stamp beneficiaries cash in exchange for the stamps, and allow them to use the cash to purchase items such as soap, laundry detergent or over-the-counter medications that are typically not covered by food stamps. In many cases, people who use food stamps have been caught selling the stamps online or using the stamps to purchase beverages with a large bottle redemption value in order to make money off of returning the containers. According to reports, food stamp fraud costs the nation as much as $330 million per year and is a federal criminal offense. In the past three years, nearly 600 people have been convicted of food stamp fraud and nearly $200 million has been ordered in fines and restitution.

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