Oh SNAP! Water dumping as a food stamp scam
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EUGENE, Ore. -- Last week, KVAL News reporter Ty Steele saw two men dumping out case after case of bottled water on the ground before returning those bottles for the five-cent deposits. He filmed the duo's actions and his conversation with them on his phone.
In the video, Steele asks the two men if they are dumping out perfectly good water at a bottle exchange in west Eugene last week.
“That is perfectly good water,” answered the man taking off the caps, who did not want to be identified.
The other man returning the bottles at the machine added, “Cash money! Cash money!”
“We bought it off a card in the store,” said the first man. “You can always turn it in for food stamps.”
The Department of Human Services in Eugene is the agency that regulates food stamps for the area. Food stamps are issued onto the Oregon Trail Cards as a part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards— also called SNAP.
A DHS administrator commented on the video, giving a name to what the men were doing.
"It's called water dumping,” said program manager Richard Whitwer.
When asked if water dumping was fraud, Whitwer said, “Yes ... well, it’s not fraud today.”
Currently under United States Department of Agriculture guidelines, water dumping in Oregon is not technically fraud. However, the agency proposed a new rule in June to target the issue.
“It is going to expand to the water dumping issue,” said Whitwer, “and that’ll become part of the official trafficking definition.”
Whitwer said SNAP program trafficking is defined as the selling or trading of food stamp benefits for cash. That would give the agency the authority to enforce the practice of water dumping and use evidence in fraud investigations.
Whitwer said approximately one in five people who live in Lane County are currently receiving SNAP program benefits. In the last few years, SNAP in Lane County has seen an 80 percent increase in people receiving benefits.
He added that the fraud rate is estimated at around one percent.
This story just gives another justification for getting rid of any entitlement programs and more reason to hate the poor. These "cheats" could have bought and delivered groceries to a neighbor and gotten reimbursed with cash for their trouble, dollar for dollar. So, this can't be a common occurance. There are any number of reasons to be desperate for cash that have nothing to do with alcohol or illegal drugs. Try picking yourself up by your own bootstraps when you're down and out and don't qualify for cash benefits (unless you have kids or are disabled, you don't).  Welfare help gets more miserly every year and more difficult to get. It's bs that we can't afford any social safety net. If the economy was stimulated by more domestic spending, demand would increase causing producers to produce more which requires more workers, creating more jobs. This kind of hate inducing story promotes the idea that austerity budget policy is rightous. Austerity measures however are the opposite of what is needed to climb out of a depression.
Apparently my suggestion that we make these miscreants"feel bad" about their fraudulent, thieving behavior was not appreciated by the moderators. The post disappeared. Â Let me re-word it. "We should solidly spank them, making it VERY clear that stealing is wrong!"
The people who get caught doing this should not be receiving food stamps any longer, period. I am a single mom, full time student and work full time as well. The small amount of food stamps I receive do not feed me and my son for the month. I can't imagine buying something like water and wasting it for the deposit. If you really need food stamps you don't waste them.I think that anyone who received government aid of any kind should be doing regular drug testing. Then either get help for your drug problem or no more aid. We should not be supporting people who are using drugs with our tax money. I feel you should also have to have a job, be enrolled in school, or actively seek employment at all times. You should only get help if you are helping yourself as well.
I saw this first hand yesterday outside the Albertsons at 18TH Ave the guy was dumping out 2 cases of water I thought WTH? now I know! I see young males all the time of all races using the OTC to purchase junk food and take cash off the card then purchase Lottery products. I asked them at Albertsons if that was legal because the guy got cash then got his lotto they said yes. Go back to paper food stamps and no cash allowed!
The system used to be a help-mate now it's just hammock. If you can't feed them don't breed them, cause the people earning the money for these people to feed their kids, or for guys to "Water Dump" are going broke!!! If the government only knew how many people trade their food stamps for drugs they might take one second to look into it. All you have to do to get drugs is let the drug dealer use your card, you got a pin number, right, but if I go to use my debt card that has a pin number I have to still show my ID. "Here's your sign America"Â
In the parking lot of Red Apple grocery store, there is usually between three to six people just outside the store willing to sell you their $200 food stamp card and code for $100. I've also heard the same offer being peddled by about a dozen people standing outside the temp agency called Labor Ready.
Food stamps should be used for the same items as WIC and then include toilet paper. Â And that is it. Â That is all that should be purchased on food stamps. Â NOTHING ELSE!!! Â AND there should be drug testing....
Fact is, the system can and will always be taken advantage of. And with any "new" rules or regulations on the stores part, ("that are not followed buy the employee's who know") will only hurt the honest people on the system. But then again after all these years, how many "honest" people are on welfare?
@Dean Well if as they say 1% fraud than 99% are honest.
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@eugenevoter If the fraud was only 1%, there would be no need to fix it, if folks got off their high horse and recognized that these guys are satisfying their addictions, then we might be able to deal with the problem, how would you like to be the guy that recommends that we give them cash so they can buy beer and cigarettes., they will find a way, it is foolish for us to think we have a moral obligation to feed them and ignore their vices, if we can rationalize pot, we can do the same for booze and tobacco.
If you're on the feedbag..ya gotta drink tap water/ exempt bottled water from the program.
Why can't they include on the food stamps, toilet paper, tooth paste and soap? Â I am not agreeing with what these guys were up to, but from experience - I took section 8 for a year about 7 years ago to get back on my feet and had food stamps. Â The food stamps are a great help but they don't help your kids brush their teeth, wipe their butts, have dish soap or shampoo. Â There are places to go to get food, food boxes, school supplies, clothes. Â Lets now talk about being clean and being able to keep your house clean. Â Soap and water right... well you don't have soap. Â ?
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Not everyone takes advantage of the system, I went from one day being a stay at home mom, part time day care provider to a single mom with 3 boys, I am a Veteran, I have worked since I was 15, now I had 3 boys 3, 5 and 7, my small day care income and a stunned disbelief trying to cope. Â I fought fires for 5 years before I went to the VA, they helped me, it took me one year to put out the fires, step on the embers, get the job I have and Thank sect 8 as well as the food stamp office and not look back. Â
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When I was stationed in Germany we had a ration card system, you could buy this much meat, this much dairy, this much in the way of personal/household cleaning. Â Why not do the same now
 @MarineMom You were earning that ration card while in the military. It wasn't just given to you. It's an entirely different thing.
either he's selling it or he's huffing the propellent
what do you call a guy(around 20) who buys a case of whip cream frequently with food stamps?
 @Mary I'd call him awesome
@Mary creamofsumyunguy?
Why cant the people pay the deposit out of pocket on items purchased instead of the oregon trail paying for it?
Dari mart has had an issue with this.. some of the items that were in the bottles with a deposit of 90 cents were being purchased with a oregon tral card taken out around back ofthe store and dumped out. Thn returned to the store for cash or smokes. If this isnt fraud i dont kow what is.
just ban or stop paying for things that have a deposit on them.stop the few to help the many.now honestly who didnt see this coming when they added the deposit to bottled water,I did and I wrote them an email never heard back
20% on the benefits. Just wait until it gets to 30 then 40 then 50%.  We'll be at their mercy until they run out of our money...