‘Unconscionable’: CT SNAP benefit thefts surge by 1,800%

This story has been updated.

Nahelly Helly, a Bridgeport mother of three, went to the grocery store early on June 1 to stock up on groceries for the month with a newly reloaded EBT card. But by 7 a.m., the account was empty, wiped out by an unknown thief.

The theft of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as SNAP benefits or food stamps, jumped from $132,455 in the 2023 fiscal year to $2,584,662 in FY 2024, according to state Department of Social Services data — a 1,800% increase. The number of thefts reported grew from 177 in January to 2,855 in June.

“It is absolutely unconscionable that criminals believe it is appropriate to steal benefits from our constituents,” DSS Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves said at a press conference last week. “SNAP benefits are essential for our families to live with the dignity they deserve. These benefits are critical to their lives.”

Skimming machines, leaked PIN codes and a national criminal database

Criminals commonly obtain EBT card information — the card number and the owner’s PIN code — through skimming devices placed on top of the point of sale device, Connecticut DSS Deputy Director of Communications Christine Stuart told The Connecticut Mirror.

Because the cards have no microchips, which are used to protect most common credit and debit cards, the card’s information gets transmitted to the criminals and entered into a larger national web of stolen EBT card information.

Other times, victims receive phishing text messages and emails saying their card has been locked or needs to be reauthorized. After victims put in their card information, the data goes directly to the criminals.

Once the card is reloaded at the beginning of the next month, the benefits are vulnerable to theft.

“The [recipients] wait for their benefits to be reloaded at the beginning of the month, and before these unsuspecting people wake up in the morning, their benefits are gone … It shows that this person has made purchases in a totally different state,” Stuart said.

The information obtained through the skimming device and phishing scams can be embedded into fraudulent cards or used to make online purchases.

Thefts decreasing?

Although the number of theft reports was increasing in June, data from the first few days of July suggests that the problem might be waning.

The majority of reports are received within the first few days of the month, and the number dropped to 460 for the first week of July.

The DSS says the decrease is indicative of the effectiveness of its education and awareness campaign, which includes informational videos on how to change PIN codes and best practices for purchasing food with an EBT card.

Changing the card’s PIN after each purchase is now recommended.

In June, recipients made 24,626 changes to their PIN codes, compared to about 16,400 in April and nearly 17,000 in May, Stuart said.

The reimbursement process and a call for decisive action

The CT Mirror contacted a number of people on a Facebook group called "Connecticut Benefits." Many of the users posted complaints about benefit theft.

Once Helly realized her family’s benefits for the month had been stolen, she said, she immediately called to have the card canceled. The Connecticut DSS told her that a refund for the stolen federal benefits would be issued in 30 to 60 days.

A new card arrived six days later, and her benefits were reinstated by the seventh day.

“The process was quicker than I expected since they told me up to 60 days. I was nervous.”

While the process for Helly’s new card was fairly straightforward, other residents say the process has taken longer.

Shiree Yopp from Meriden said she had her SNAP benefits stolen on June 6. Over a month later, she said she has not received a reimbursement and has not had any communication with the DSS since her initial report filing, where they told her the investigation would take 30 to 40 days.

Another Bridgeport resident, Leslie Rosado, told the CT Mirror she had her cash assistance benefits stolen from a Price Rite. The criminals’ purchase was made across state lines in Brooklyn, N.Y., at a CVS.

“I had my physical card [so] it made no sense,” she said. “I did everything I can to try and get it back. They stole it at 5:16 p.m., and I checked out at 5:36, so literally minutes before … I filed a police report but then got a denial letter.”

Because the 2024 Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, which extended the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 — commonly known as the Farm Bill — only covers reimbursing SNAP benefits, she was out of luck.

Matthew Dillon, an attorney at Connecticut Legal Services, told the CT Mirror that the law needed to “catch up with the changes in technology.” While his office has not come across many people whose food stamps have been stolen, given the online reimbursement process, they see far more people in a situation similar to Rosado’s.

Dillon is also concerned that the pilot program for stolen SNAP benefits replacements is set to expire on Sept. 30. If Congress does not vote to reauthorize the Farm Bill, stolen SNAP benefits will also no longer be reimbursed for states that originally opted into the pilot program.

The bipartisan 2018 bill was originally supposed to be reauthorized for another five years last September, but after Congress could not meet the deadline, a one-year extension was passed instead and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov. 16, 2023.

On top of the extension, Biden signed the bipartisan 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act , which included SNAP skimming reimbursements.

The House and Senate each have their own versions of the bill, but the chambers will need to work out those differences and pass a compromise bill.

So far, the House Agriculture Committee has passed the GOP version of the Farm Bill in May. SNAP reimbursements were not included in this version, and House Democrats did not support the legislation.

In the Senate, Democrats have introduced the Fairness for Victims of SNAP Skimming Act . Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is a cosponsor on the legislation that would “permanently extend” reimbursement provisions.

Blumenthal has also called for the Farm Bill to be reauthorized.

“These families need reimbursement, but the program for reimbursing them expires on Sept. 30 of this year,” Blumenthal said at a June 28 press conference . “That’s why we need to extend it and eliminate the cap on reimbursements, so that they can be fully compensated for the scamming that takes place.”

He also emphasized the need for a federal investigation into the inner workings of the scheme and the potential for technological improvements to the program.

An easy first step, many say, is to incorporate chips onto the EBT cards, so their information is more highly protected. This, Stuart says, is “cost prohibitive.”

“The federal government needs to be making an investment in prevention,” Blumenthal said.

Stuart said the DSS office is looking into other ways of better protecting the cards, such as locking the cards after purchases. These are cheaper methods of protecting the cards’ information.

“We definitely have a [budget] deficit coming up. There's no money whatsoever,” Stuart said. “We're, like, counting pennies … so it depends on the cost and how much lawmakers value this program and how much they want to see it succeed … It also relies on Congress and the Farm Bill … All of this money is tied up in the Farm Bill, and so whatever the politics of the Farm Bill are might dictate the future of this. ”

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