BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS Here's how the scam works: Miscreant(s) walk into a store and buy bottled water . In this specific instance, $86.79. The $86.79 were paid with food stamps . Miscreant(s) haul the water to the back of the store, and empty the bottles. Miscreant(s) haul the now empty bottles back into the store, feed them into a recycling machine, and get $24. Before: $86.79 in money that is restricted, it can only be used for foodstuffs and that kind of thing. After: $24 in cold hard cash that can be used to buy cigarettes , booze, cocaine , or stuck on a stripper's g-string. The sad part is that not everyone that needs food stamps is getting that money. That's $62.79 poured down the drain for no reason whatsoever. Related articles by Zemanta Hungry College Students Applying For Food Stamps In Record Numbers (huffingtonpost.com)