原文标题：FraudSNAP, crackle, popTheft from government anti-poverty programmes seems troublingly easy欺诈行为啪、嗒、砰从政府扶贫计划中盗窃资金似乎极其容易，这让人感到不安State and federal governments are struggling to prevent it州和联邦政府都在努力避免这种情况发生

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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.

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迪和她丈夫认为他们已经熬过了艰难时期。他们与孩子在巴尔的摩的一个无家可归的避难所度过了6个月，现在他们终于有了自己的公寓。

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

有了一些政府资助的现金和食品援助后，他们能够维持生计。然而，这个月上旬他们的现金被诈骗者骗走了。

Now Dee wonders if they made a mistake leaving the shelter so soon.现在迪在想，他们是不是做了个错误的决定，过早离开了避难所。

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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国临时增加了社会福利计划。

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.

在美国，补充营养援助计划（SNAP）是为需要的人提供食物的联邦援助，通常被称为“食品券计划”，每个符合领取条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 vulnerablefamilies.

一些州还使用了临时援助计划（TANF），这是一项联邦现金援助计划，旨在给弱势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.其他州还提供了额外的援助：加州今年给一些居民办理退税以抵消高通胀。

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Some of that money was stolen too.

这些援助金里也有一部分被盗了。

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

有一家专注反欺诈的LexisNexis Risk Solutions公司，该公司的海伍德·塔尔科夫表示：“每当有这么多钱用过时的流程和系统支出时，都一定会发生欺诈行为。”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.犯罪分子可以通过钓鱼网站或盗刷等方式获取个人信息，然后在暗网上交易。（钓鱼方式指通过发送电子邮件或其他消息以诱导人们泄露账户号码、个人身份号码和其他重要数据。盗刷指用读卡器和其他非法手段窃取账户信息的行为。）

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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%.

塔尔科夫先生估计，在未来6个月内，SNAP可能会被盗用200亿美元，欺诈率为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%.

负责该计划的美国农业部（USDA）则认为，这个数字会低得多：该部门预测欺诈率仅为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。马里兰州最近宣布，该州的食品援助计划在去年10月至今年2月期间被盗用了250万美元。

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.加州称，由于电子盗窃，该州在2021年7月至2022年11月期间补了740万美元的食品援助和3970万美元的现金援助。

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

相较于明目张胆的犯罪，非受迫性失误可能导致更多资金消失。

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.政府问责局估计，由于给有资格个人付多了或付错了人，2021财年联邦政府损失了2810亿美元。

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How can this waste be prevented?

如何防止这种浪费？

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.

疫情应对问责委员会的前副执行主任琳达·米勒表示，通常情况下，政府没有太多的动力来预防欺诈行为。

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

她说，因为政府机构更注重将救济金发给需要的人。

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.而看似显而易见的惩罚措施，比如削减农业部预算以遏制欺诈，会使靠这些资金维生的贫困家庭付出代价。

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Having beenfleeced, 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，一些州正在采用银行系统中常见的反欺诈措施。

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

加州计划升级福利转移借记卡的安全性。

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.

马里兰州参议员凯蒂·弗莱·赫斯特提出了一项法案，要求马里兰州人力资源部补给被欺诈的受害者。

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.

该法案还鼓励该州雇用符合特定标准的供应商，例如保险公司持有某种可以用于为被欺诈和身份被盗窃者提供赔偿的保险形式。

But as to the wasteful government spending that all this fraud represents, it seems that is just viewed as a cost of doing business.但是对于这种欺诈所代表的浪费性的政府开支，似乎只是被视为一种商业成本。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量623左右）原文出自：2023年3月18日《The Economist》United States版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）补充营养援助计划Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP)是美国的一个政府计划，旨在为符合资格的低收入家庭提供食品券和现金，以帮助其购买健康食品。该计划早期被称为食品券计划（Food Stamp Program），自1964年起开始实施。SNAP由美国农业部管理。符合条件的家庭将收到一张电子福利转移卡（EBT卡），可以在参与该计划的零售商处购买符合条件的食品。SNAP的资格基于家庭的收入、家庭规模和其他因素。SNAP旨在帮助低收入家庭克服食品不安全和饥饿的问题，同时提供了一种方式来鼓励健康的饮食习惯。该计划还可以帮助提高家庭的经济稳定性，并增加社区中的消费和商业活动。LexisNexis Risk Solutions是一家提供风险管理、反欺诈、合规性和数据解决方案的公司，总部位于美国乔治亚州的亚特兰大。该公司的客户包括金融服务、保险、零售、政府、健康保健、法律和汽车行业等领域的客户。马里兰州人力资源部Maryland’s Department of Human Services是马里兰州政府的一个部门，负责协调和提供社会服务和援助计划，以帮助符合条件的低收入和弱势社群满足其基本生活需求。该部门管理和实施的一些社会服务和援助计划包括：现金援助、食品券、医疗保险、残疾人服务、儿童保护服务、成人保护服务、失业保险、养老金和家庭援助等。【重点句子】（3 个）Criminals can obtain personal details through phishing or skimming. This information is also sold on the dark web.犯罪分子可以通过钓鱼网站或盗刷等方式获取个人信息，然后在暗网上交易。Vastly more money may have vanished through unforced errors rather than outright crime.相较于明目张胆的犯罪，非受迫性失误可能导致更多资金消失。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，一些州正在采用银行系统中常见的反欺诈措施。