原文標題：
Fraud
SNAP, crackle, pop
Theft from government anti-poverty programmes seems troublingly easy
欺詐行為
啪、嗒、砰
從政府扶貧計劃中盜竊資金似乎極其容易，這讓人感到不安

State and federal governments are struggling to prevent it
州和聯(lián)邦政府都在努力避免這種情況發(fā)生

[Paragraph 1]

DEE AND her husband thought they had left the tough times behind them. Having spent the previous six months living in a homeless shelter in Baltimore with their small child, they were finally living in an apartment on their own.

迪和她丈夫認為他們已經(jīng)熬過了艱難時期。他們與孩子在巴爾的摩的一個無家可歸的避難所度過了6個月，現(xiàn)在他們終于有了自己的公寓。

With some government-supported cash and food assistance, they would be able to make ends meet. That was until their cash was stolen by fraudsters earlier this month.

有了一些政府資助的現(xiàn)金和食品援助后，他們能夠維持生計。然而，這個月上旬他們的現(xiàn)金被詐騙者騙走了。

Now Dee wonders if they made a mistake leaving the shelter so soon.
現(xiàn)在迪在想，他們是不是做了個錯誤的決定，過早離開了避難所。

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The covid-19 pandemic forced governments all over the world to temporarily increase social-welfare programmes.

新冠疫情迫使世界各國臨時增加了社會福利計劃。

In America the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), federal aid that provides food for the needy more commonly known as food stamps, increased by at least $95 per eligible family per month.

在美國，補充營養(yǎng)援助計劃（SNAP）是為需要的人提供食物的聯(lián)邦援助，通常被稱為“食品券計劃”，每個符合領(lǐng)取條件的家庭每月增加了95美元以上。

Some states also used the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programme, a federal cash-assistance scheme, to further help vulnerable families.

一些州還使用了臨時援助計劃（TANF），這是一項聯(lián)邦現(xiàn)金援助計劃，旨在給弱勢家庭提供更多的援助。

Other states provided additional help: California gave tax refunds this year to some residents to offset high inflation.
其他州還提供了額外的援助：加州今年給一些居民辦理退稅以抵消高通脹。

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Some of that money was stolen too.

這些援助金里也有一部分被盜了。

“Anytime there’s that much money being punched out with antiquated processes and systems, you are going to have fraud,” says Haywood Talcove of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a firm that sells fraud-prevention services.

有一家專注反欺詐的LexisNexis Risk Solutions公司，該公司的海伍德·塔爾科夫表示：“每當(dāng)有這么多錢用過時的流程和系統(tǒng)支出時，都一定會發(fā)生欺詐行為?！?br>
Criminals can obtain personal details through phishing(sending emails or other messages to encourage people to reveal their account numbers, private identification numbers and other important data)or skimming(illegally placing gadgets over card readers and other devices to steal account information). This information is also sold on the dark web.
犯罪分子可以通過釣魚網(wǎng)站或盜刷等方式獲取個人信息，然后在暗網(wǎng)上交易。
（釣魚方式指通過發(fā)送電子郵件或其他消息以誘導(dǎo)人們泄露賬戶號碼、個人身份號碼和其他重要數(shù)據(jù)。盜刷指用讀卡器和其他非法手段竊取賬戶信息的行為。）

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Mr Talcove estimates that about $20bn could be stolen over the next six months from SNAP, an assumed fraud rate of 15%.

塔爾科夫先生估計，在未來6個月內(nèi)，SNAP可能會被盜用200億美元，欺詐率為15%。

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that administers the programme, reckons that the sum will be much lower: it forecasts a fraud rate of only 0.01-0.02%.

負責(zé)該計劃的美國農(nóng)業(yè)部（USDA）則認為，這個數(shù)字會低得多：該部門預(yù)測欺詐率僅為0.01-0.02%。

States have their own estimates. Maryland recently announced that $2.5m was stolen from its food assistance programme between October and February;

各州也有自己的估算。馬里蘭州最近宣布，該州的食品援助計劃在去年10月至今年2月期間被盜用了250萬美元。

California says it reimbursed $7.4m in food aid and $39.7m in cash assistance due to electronic theft between July 2021 and November 2022.
加州稱，由于電子盜竊，該州在2021年7月至2022年11月期間補了740萬美元的食品援助和3970萬美元的現(xiàn)金援助。

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Vastly more money may have vanished through unforced errors rather than outright crime.

相較于明目張膽的犯罪，非受迫性失誤可能導(dǎo)致更多資金消失。

The Government Accountability Office estimates that $281bn was lost by the federal government during the 2021 fiscal year due to overpayment to eligible individuals or paying the wrong person.
政府問責(zé)局估計，由于給有資格個人付多了或付錯了人，2021財年聯(lián)邦政府損失了2810億美元。

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How can this waste be prevented?

如何防止這種浪費？

Typically the government does not have much of an incentive to prevent fraud, says Linda Miller, the former Deputy Executive Director for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, a government agency that was created to oversee pandemic spending.

疫情應(yīng)對問責(zé)委員會的前副執(zhí)行主任琳達·米勒表示，通常情況下，政府沒有太多的動力來預(yù)防欺詐行為。

These agencies are usually more focused on getting relief to those who need it, she says.

她說，因為政府機構(gòu)更注重將救濟金發(fā)給需要的人。

And what would seem like obvious penalties, such as reducing the budget at the USDA for failing to curb fraud, would come at a cost to needy families who rely on those funds to eat.
而看似顯而易見的懲罰措施，比如削減農(nóng)業(yè)部預(yù)算以遏制欺詐，會使靠這些資金維生的貧困家庭付出代價。

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Having been fleeced, some states are trying to adopt the sort of anti-fraud measures that are common in the banking system.

由于被薅了羊毛，一些州正在采用銀行系統(tǒng)中常見的反欺詐措施。

California is planning to upgrade security for debit cards used to transfer benefits.

加州計劃升級福利轉(zhuǎn)移借記卡的安全性。

State senator Katie Fry Hester of Maryland introduced a bill in her state which requires Maryland’s Department of Human Services to reimburse victims of fraud.

馬里蘭州參議員凱蒂·弗萊·赫斯特提出了一項法案，要求馬里蘭州人力資源部補給被欺詐的受害者。

It would also encourage the state to hire vendors that meet certain criteria, such as holding a form of insurance that can be used to reimburse a beneficiary for fraud and identity theft.

該法案還鼓勵該州雇用符合特定標準的供應(yīng)商，例如保險公司持有某種可以用于為被欺詐和身份被盜竊者提供賠償?shù)谋ｋU形式。

But as to the wasteful government spending that all this fraud represents, it seems that is just viewed as a cost of doing business.
但是對于這種欺詐所代表的浪費性的政府開支，似乎只是被視為一種商業(yè)成本。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量623左右）
原文出自：2023年3月18日《The Economist》United States版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
補充營養(yǎng)援助計劃Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)是美國的一個政府計劃，旨在為符合資格的低收入家庭提供食品券和現(xiàn)金，以幫助其購買健康食品。該計劃早期被稱為食品券計劃（Food Stamp Program），自1964年起開始實施。SNAP由美國農(nóng)業(yè)部管理。符合條件的家庭將收到一張電子福利轉(zhuǎn)移卡（EBT卡），可以在參與該計劃的零售商處購買符合條件的食品。SNAP的資格基于家庭的收入、家庭規(guī)模和其他因素。SNAP旨在幫助低收入家庭克服食品不安全和饑餓的問題，同時提供了一種方式來鼓勵健康的飲食習(xí)慣。該計劃還可以幫助提高家庭的經(jīng)濟穩(wěn)定性，并增加社區(qū)中的消費和商業(yè)活動。

LexisNexis Risk Solutions是一家提供風(fēng)險管理、反欺詐、合規(guī)性和數(shù)據(jù)解決方案的公司，總部位于美國喬治亞州的亞特蘭大。該公司的客戶包括金融服務(wù)、保險、零售、政府、健康保健、法律和汽車行業(yè)等領(lǐng)域的客戶。

馬里蘭州人力資源部Maryland’s Department of Human Services是馬里蘭州政府的一個部門，負責(zé)協(xié)調(diào)和提供社會服務(wù)和援助計劃，以幫助符合條件的低收入和弱勢社群滿足其基本生活需求。該部門管理和實施的一些社會服務(wù)和援助計劃包括：現(xiàn)金援助、食品券、醫(yī)療保險、殘疾人服務(wù)、兒童保護服務(wù)、成人保護服務(wù)、失業(yè)保險、養(yǎng)老金和家庭援助等。

【重點句子】（3?個）
Criminals can obtain personal details through phishing or skimming. This information is also sold on the dark web.
犯罪分子可以通過釣魚網(wǎng)站或盜刷等方式獲取個人信息，然后在暗網(wǎng)上交易。

Vastly more money may have vanished through unforced errors rather than outright crime.
相較于明目張膽的犯罪，非受迫性失誤可能導(dǎo)致更多資金消失。

Having been fleeced, some states are trying to adopt the sort of anti-fraud measures that are common in the banking system.
由于被薅了羊毛，一些州正在采用銀行系統(tǒng)中常見的反欺詐措施。