BY ANDY OLIVAN
With the city facing an inflation crisis, low-income neighborhoods around the five boroughs are seeing an alarming rise in electronic theft of food stamp benefits.
In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, many residents purchase food at local supermarkets, pharmacies, or grocery stores with EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards that hold their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. People don’t realize that after purchasing their produce, their benefits may be stolen.
“Electronic benefits theft is a pernicious and increasingly common crime that targets some of New York City’s most vulnerable residents and deprives them of the benefits they use to meet their basic needs,” said Nicholas Jacobelli, Associate Press Secretary for the New York City Department of Social Services.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as the food stamp program, provides food assistance to almost 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers including families, senior citizens, or those with disabilities according to the New York City Human Resources Administration – Department of Social Services website.
But more than 18,000 claims have been filed with the city in the last month for stolen food stamp benefits.
Food stamp benefits can be stolen through electronic scams like skimming and phishing. Card skimming is when someone puts an overlay on a store’s card-swiping machine to copy cards and personal identification number (PIN) information from EBT, credit, and debit cardholders. Scammers then use the information to access EBT accounts and spend SNAP benefits.
Phishing scams can appear as official and professional emails, text messages, or phone calls where thieves trick people into disclosing or accessing their confidential information.
“We have been getting a lot more people in the office coming for SNAP theft,” says Dahyana Mesa, 20, deputy district director at the office of Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes. She now informs all residents who come to the office, regardless of the reason for their visit, about this problem.
“We don’t know when they’re actually taking money out of the cards,” says Mesa. “And we don’t know where this is happening.”
Assemblymember Mitaynes’ office reports that last month more than 16 people complained about this issue. Last week alone, five constituents fell victim to SNAP theft.
“Once I realized and went to verify, there were purchases of $200 and something dollars that were spent. I had to change my PIN and downloaded the application so that I can be more aware if my money is vanishing and from where the money was spent,” said Monica Quiroz, 42, a resident of Sunset Park who spends her food stamp benefits at the local Bravo or C-Town supermarkets.
Quiroz, like many other low-income people in the neighborhood, depends on her EBT card as the main source of funds to buy fresh produce for her family. “One ends up feeling bad because you count on this for your spending, and to realize one day that your card doesn’t have any money because it was already spent and you don’t know who spent it, is not good,” said Quiroz. She added that this wasn’t the first time her benefits had been stolen.
“It’s very concerning. We had a lot of people come in and say that, yeah, I’ve seen it on the news. I just didn’t expect it will happen to me,” said Mesa who has seen people lose $1000 worth of benefits. “This is something that they rely on. So if they’re not able to rely on HRA or their food stamps or EBT cards, what else will they have to eat? So I feel like it’s definitely important to keep educating people on what’s going on.”
The number of people falling victim to this form of electronic theft is unclear. The Department of Social Services, which administers the EBT cards throughout the city, has sent information about the scams to residents who receive the benefits.
“The agency did send outreach letters to approximately 22,000 clients that we know were victims of skimming to notify these clients that they can now apply for replacement benefits and inform them how to do so,” said Jacobelli.
According to the 311 webpage on Electronically Stolen SNAP or Public Assistance Benefits, those reporting skimming must report their EBT card as stolen and attain their EBT transaction history through the ConnectEBT website. Then they can submit a claim online by following the instructions on the form to request the replacement of SNAP benefits that were stolen electronically. October 31, 2023, is the deadline to submit a claim for SNAP benefits that were stolen between October 1, 2022, and August 21, 2023.