County supervisors continue support of whistle-blower resource.

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A $200,000 three-year contract with We Tip, Inc. has been
approved to continue the Welfare Fraud Reporting and Informant Reward Program
and the Welfare Fraud Hotline, announced Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

In December 1987, the Board of Supervisors approved Antonovich’s
motion to develop the hotline, which allows the public, including county
employees, to anonymously report welfare fraud 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.   The service receives 2,300 calls per year.

We Tip, Inc. provides trained multilingual operators
experienced in questioning callers to elicit sufficient details of reported
instances of suspected welfare fraud crimes in order to report this information
to the Department of Public Social Services.

Since its inception, the Welfare Fraud Hotline has detected
over $16 million of fraudulent overpayment in over 22,000 reported cases. 
DPSS is working collaboratively with the District Attorney’s Office and We Tip,
Inc. to ensure all tax dollars are protected from those who would abuse the
system. 

The toll-free number for the Welfare Fraud Hotline is 1-800-87-FRAUD