States struggle to replace benefits stolen from poor's food accounts; must have plan to use federal funds this month

EBT cards lack security against electronic theft.
(Photo by Robert F. Bukaty, The Associated Press)

Theft of federal benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, "skyrocketed in the spring and summer last year," reports Elaine S. Povich of Stateline. "News reports and law enforcement agencies said the benefits most likely were stolen with 'skimming' devices attached by crooked employees or thieves posing as customers to card processing machines at store checkouts. The skimmers take seconds to install, and law enforcement officials say they are often placed late at night when store employees are distracted. Those devices clone the data encoded on the cards and can also steal PINs."

In the past, the situation was a hardship for benefit recipients because only a few states "reimbursed stolen benefits, according to the American Public Human Services Association. . . . Unlike regular credit or debit cards where refunds are often available when thieves poach funds, EBT cards don’t have those protections. That leaves many victims with no recourse." Povich writes. The omnibus spending bill contains "a federal mandate that allows states to use federal money to reimburse SNAP recipients whose benefits were stolen through electronic card fraud. . . . The federal law also calls on states to increase the cards’ security. . .. States have until the end of February to draw up plans to use federal money they get for the SNAP program to reimburse recipients who were ripped off."

"State legislatures are grappling with how to comply, said the association's senior director, Matthew Lyons," Povich reports. "So far, according to an email to Stateline from a Department of Agriculture spokesperson, no state has yet forwarded a plan to the department. And critics say since the law did not spell out parameters on how to make the cards more tamper-proof, there may still be room for misuse."

SNAP recipients in Massachusetts were particularly hard hit with thefts. Povich writes: "In November, just weeks before the federal omnibus bill passed, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a liberal public interest group, filed a class action lawsuit against the state agency that handles the benefits on behalf of SNAP beneficiaries who had their money stolen from their EBT cards. . . . Betsy Gwin, the attorney for the institute that filed suit, told Povich the federal omnibus bill was a 'really, really positive step' and that her group 'has a duty to the clients to fight for justice for them.'”