The Florida Department of Children and Families unveiled a plan to stop food-stamp and other public-assistance fraud on Tuesday. With more than ninety percent of applications for such benefits submitted online, DCF is now using technology on the front end of the process to weed out identity thieves.

Florida ranks number one in the U.S. for identity theft, and crooks have been stealing from some of the state's poorest residents. Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins says identity thieves are stealing more than money by committing such fraud.

"…but they are now putting that person in a position where they do not know where their next meal is coming from because they needed those food stamps or welfare benefits just to keep their family together", said Wilkins.

Wilkins says it's a challenge to combat fraud, because the department doesn’t want to make it too difficult for the people who actually qualify for services to get them. In the past two years, DCF has saved more than $135 million in public assistance fraud and over-payments.