There are many, many people who want to steal from the government. They will do so at every opportunity. Each new government program needs to have a security component that will consume a large fraction of the total cost.
If banks and payment processors can do it, so can government.
Since fraud is a "non-violent crime." Politicians/judges in California have made the punishment of these types of crimes absurdly lax, often with early release or little-to-no time served.