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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Scammers have stolen millions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Illinois in the past few months, according to local news reports, as officials warn that card skimming in the state has recently increased.
Eyewitness News WTVO reported on Thursday that more than $4.5 million worth of SNAP benefits have been stolen between October 2023 and March.
Scammers have been placing card readers or skimming devices at grocery stores and ATMs to steal SNAP beneficiaries' user data.
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Illinois authorities are well aware of the problem, which in January led to Springfield legislators introducing a law requiring the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to track and report stolen SNAP benefits.
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"The Department shall specifically keep a record of every report made to the Department by a SNAP recipient alleging the theft of benefits due to no fault of the recipient, the benefit amount stolen, and, if practicable, how those stolen benefits were used and the location of those Thefts," the act mandates.
The IDHS started collecting data on SNAP benefits' thefts and fraud in December 2022. The new law requires the IDHS to report on its findings on an annual basis. The first report was made on January 1, 2024.
The law also mandates that if the IDHS "determines that a SNAP recipient has made a substantiated report of stolen benefits due to card skimming, card cloning, or some other similar fraudulent method," it must refer the matter to the State's Attorney "who has jurisdiction over the alleged theft or fraud and shall provide any assistance to that State's Attorney in the prosecution of the alleged theft or fraud."
There are around 2 million SNAP recipients in the state of Illinois, according to 2021 data from IDHS. While it's unclear how many have been affected, the consequences on beneficiaries—individuals who are already among the most vulnerable in American society—can be devastating.
"When families lose their benefits—at no fault of their own—they are unable to purchase food until the situation can be resolved," Senator Mattie Hunter of Chicago, a Democrat, told WCIA in January. "We must ensure these benefits remain accessible to those who need them." Hunter sponsored the bill requiring IDHS to track stolen SNAP benefits.
"Electronic theft of federal benefits is currently a nationwide problem. The Illinois Department of Human Services is committed to combating this problem and getting ahead of card skimmers," a representative for the department told Newsweek.
"We saw a decrease of over $1 million in EBT (electronic benefits transfer) theft claims in Illinois from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2023. This was at the same time that we were seeing an increase in skimming activity across the country. We believe IDHS' efforts to locate the skimmers and replace or unpin the impacted LINK cards have led to that decrease rather than the expected increase in claims during this time."
Newsweek contacted Sen. Hunter for comment by email on Friday morning.
Illinois SNAP beneficiaries who had their data or benefits stolen after October 1, 2022, can file a replacement claim at //dhs.illinois.gov/ebtclaim, call 1-800-843-6154 or submit a paper claim at their local FCRC (IDHS: Office Locator (state.il.us)). Stolen benefits won't be replenished after September 30, 2024.
The IDHS recommends SNAP beneficiaries to freeze and unfreeze their card each time they use it; change their PIN frequently; not share their PIN with others; and block out-of-state transactions through the SNAP mobile app ebtEDGE or the Illinois Link Card website.
Update 06/13/24, 6:19 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the IDHS.
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