Vulnerable Americans are among the potential victims of a recent scam cycle that has affected Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries.
A recent wave of the SNAP scam has swelled in Ohio, and several people across the nation are losing their benefits to the tune of hundreds of dollars. The trail of events suggests that the scam mostly manifests as electronic benefit card (EBT) cloning.
Food Stamp Beneficiaries are Losing Their Meals to Scammers
Criminals clone and use their victims’ EBT cards for store purchases, usually in other states. They often use these EBT cards in different states to evade law enforcement agencies.
During an interview, a certain SNAP beneficiary, Jason Nichols, lamented that he lost food stamps amounting to about $291 due to the ongoing scam. Nichols resides in Ohio but found that the scammers spent his benefits in Illinois stores.
Electronic Benefit Cards for America’s Most Vulnerable
The SNAP program involves issuing EBT cards to qualified recipients, usually economically vulnerable Americans. The EBT cards are, however, just like debit cards, albeit with fund credits that beneficiaries can use for electronic purchases at participating stores around the country.
Unfortunately, like regular debit cards, EBTs are susceptible to skimming, phishing, and cloning.
Ohio Under the Hypnosis of the SNAP Scam Chain
The ripple effect of the wave of SNAP scams has recently landed in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said in a March statement, “Criminals have increasingly used a process called skimming to steal account numbers.”
After some investigations, officials discovered that the EBT holders don’t necessarily become victims because they are careless.
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Slack Handling of EBT Data Can Result in Scam Vulnerability
Officials found that the trend for the skimming type of EBT scam is for the criminals to harvest the information on multiple payment cards.
To achieve this, the criminals often place a device over the point-of-sale card reader; no actual physical theft is perpetrated during EBT skimming. According to a recent report from the FICO credit scoring agency, data skimming jumped by 368% between 2021 and 2022.
Almost 200,000 Reported Instances of SNAP Scam
In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 177,000 SNAP scam incidents were reported across the United States. The US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) compiles this data and makes it available to the public.
The trend is not peculiar to Ohio alone; it’s just that the state has recently become a hotbed of this scam variant.
Very Few States Are Unaffected by the SNAP Scam
So far, New York, Maryland, and Texas are the states with the highest incidence of SNAP scams. New York alone has a total of 34,307 reported cases, making them the highest.
However, not all scam victims report falling victim. So, there are suggestions that the figure may be much higher than public data suggests.
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Maryland and Texas reported 9,467 and 7,765 cases, respectively. According to a Newsweek report, only two states in the US have had no reported cases of the SNAP scam.
Lawmakers in the worst-hit states are already making diverse recommendations on how to nip the crisis in the bud. Some lawmakers are proposing bills that would institute the immediate cancellation of BET cards that have been identified as compromised.
Arrests Are Being Made, and States Are Taking Initiative
Maryland lawmakers have passed a bill implementing chip technology for the BET cards. In the early months of this year, some six people were arrested in El Paso, Texas. These people are accused of being responsible for SNAP frauds totaling tens of thousands of dollars.
In New York, two people were also arrested for a high-profile EBT scam.
SNAP Scam Is Now a Punishable Offence in the Empire State
Law enforcement apprehended the two suspects in New York for being involved in over $20 million worth of EBT fraud.
In New York, several bills have been passed to discourage the trend. One of the bills made EBT food stamp scams as a class D felony, and active research is being conducted on the many tactics that are adopted in perpetrating the crime.
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Representatives Are Calling for Detailed Investigations
Brooklyn Representative Iwen Chu noted that investigating and demystifying the SNAP scam chain is essential. It is more like a leaky hole through which taxpayer money is being drained away.
“This is why the study on SNAP fraud is so important; it will help us uncover the root causes; identify common tactics used by scammers; and guide us in crafting effective countermeasures,” said Rep. Chu.
Here’s How To Avoid Falling Victim to the SNAP Scam
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Service has launched a public sensitization campaign to help protect locals from the EBT scam.
The Department suggests jealously protecting the PIN of EBT cards and, if possible, changing it every month. Also, carefully examine point-of-sale machines before using them to ensure they don’t have skimming devices installed.
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