Bay of Plenty beneficiaries have ripped off the welfare system by more than $700,000 in a month - the second-highest value of all the regions in the country.
A total of 68 people have been investigated by the Ministry of Social Development in July 2015, new figures show.
Of those, 29 people were found to have been receiving overpayments of an average of $24,535, leading to a grand total of $711,523 of benefits paid out in a single month to people no longer entitled to them.
The ministry said it was now working with those found guilty of welfare fraud to pay outstanding costs back.
Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust social services manager Piki Russell dealt with beneficiaries every day and said only a small number would intentionally try ripping off the system because of greed.
"[For] the majority of people it's very much based on ignorance, but in reality a lot of it is also based primarily on survival," she said.
"We have a lot of families out there really, really struggling to meet the cost of basic needs. These are the people we deal with on a day-to-day basis. They are trying to look after their children," she said.
Nationally, 494 people were investigated with 239 cases of fraud established from average overpayments of $19,662, adding to a total of $4,699,260.
Associate Social Development Minister Jo Goodhew said the ministry was working with people to retrieve outstanding payments as "we don't want families stuck in a debt trap for receiving payments they aren't entitled to receive".
"We continue to catch people who are intentionally trying to defraud the system.
"Around 97 per cent of our welfare fraud prosecutions are successful. Over the last year, 927 people have been successfully prosecuted and we are now working with them to recover $32 million in taxpayer money." A total of $9.11 million had been recovered since welfare fraud initiatives began in March, 2013.