Friday, March 29, 2024
HomenewsAccording to County Officials, Scammers Continue to Target SNAP Participants

According to County Officials, Scammers Continue to Target SNAP Participants

The goal of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is to increase food security for Americans with low incomes. However, the Frederick County Department of Social Services is alerting clients to a rise in both local and nationwide SNAP card fraud.

Participants in the SNAP program receive monthly rewards for groceries on their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, and con artists have discovered ways to get their hands on card data and produce clone cards.

For instance, at cash registers that take SNAP payments, fraudsters can install “skimming” devices on card-swiping machines.

According to reports from news sources, several electronic skimming victims discovered that their accounts had been drained at times when they had no other money to pay for groceries. According to officials, Virginia was particularly heavily impacted by this late last year.

Frederick County Department of Social Services Assistant Director Linda Gibson released a statement stating that “local agencies (including Frederick County) began receiving reports from clients in August/September 2022 about how their SNAP benefits were unavailable because someone had obtained their card information and stolen the balance on their EBT card.”

The statement said, “There has been a persistent push throughout the fall to urge clients to safeguard themselves and their family by never giving personal information to an unauthorized or unsolicited source.

Legislation that will compensate SNAP skimming victims has been hastily drafted by federal legislators. President Biden signed into law legislation that allows states to reinstate benefits for some households that had money taken as a result of card skimming, cloning, or any other fraudulent means. This legislation is part of the massive $1.7 trillion federal budget measure.

According to County Officials, Scammers Continue to Target SNAP Participants

The legislation only covers benefits that were stolen on or after October 1, 2022. The reimbursements are for the amount taken, or, if less, the value of the household’s two monthly allotments before the theft.

To handle returning benefits that have been stolen, Virginia is also creating a strategy for federal approval. According to Gibson, Virginia may be able to help households affected by SNAP fraud on or after October 1, 2022, if the proposal is approved and put into effect.

More advice from the department on potential replacement funding will be available to clients in the next weeks.

Local SNAP card fraud cases are currently submitted to the county’s fraud investigator, who “will evaluate the situation that produced the missing funds and to determine if the lost funds were due to card skimming, cloning or other similar fraudulent tactics.”

The division continues to advise its SNAP clients to exercise caution. Since most EBT cards do not have the anti-fraud chips that most credit cards do, SNAP cards have been targeted, according to experts.

“VDSS and our Customer Service suppliers will never call, text, or email cardholders to request their card number and/or PIN. We routinely request that our customers alter their pins, “added Gibson.

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