Washington, D.C. – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) released the following statement after the House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act, a comprehensive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reform package that includes his legislation, the Eliminating Fraud and Improper Payments in TANF Act:
“Washington’s abject failure to protect tax dollars has resulted in an unprecedented scale of fraud that threatens not only the sustainability of our safety net programs, but also the future economic viability of our nation. This problem is strikingly clear in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, where federal funds are administered by state governments with no federal oversight, leaving billions of dollars in taxpayer funding vulnerable to fraud and improper payments every year.
“That’s why I introduced…
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These frauds exploit emotional vulnerability and trust rather than technical weaknesses.
- Romance Scams: Scammers build long-term online relationships with victims, eventually fabricating a “crisis” (medical emergency, legal trouble, or travel costs) that requires the victim to send money.
- Pig Butchering: A hybrid scam where the criminal builds a romantic or platonic relationship to eventually “tutor” the victim in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment.