Public assistance fraud involves participants that
intentionally misrepresent their identity, their income,
their familial situation or their living situation in order
to gain benefits from public assistance programs such as
cash or food assistance, Medicaid or child care subsidies.
Public assistance recipients can also be the victim of
public assistance scams, often those that result in some
type of identity theft.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit collected $87.7 million
in 2009 on behalf of Ohio’s Medicaid program, and successfully prosecuted 114 individuals for Medicaid provider fraud .