The Department of Social Services administers several economic assistance programs which have been created to assist our citizens. These programs must be administered correctly and safeguarded to ensure that only eligible applicants receive benefits and that those benefits are used in accordance with their intended purposes as established through state and federal policy.
Intentionally and willfully providing false and inaccurate information or withholding information necessary to correctly determine eligibility for benefits is public assistance fraud and can result in criminal penalties. Further, it is a crime to traffic or attempt to traffic benefits. Our Program Integrity Services team strives to maintain the integrity of the programs and maintain accountability in the expenditure of public funds through prevention, detection, and investigation of all fraud and abuse by recipients and service providers. To this end, we establish claims for erroneously issued benefits and seek recovery. Other methods available are criminal prosecution, administrative hearing, and disqualification for certain benefit programs.
We encourage you to report matters involving fraud and abuse of benefits. Should you so choose, you generally may remain anonymous when making a report. Please provide as much information as possible regarding your complaint, as we may be unable to act on your allegation without sufficient information. Confidentiality laws do not allow us to inform you about the outcome or specific details regarding the investigation of a case. Please do not let this deter you from making a report if you have concerns.
To report suspected public assistance fraud in Rowan County, you may call our Program Integrity Services team at 704-216-8414 or click the link below to submit your report.