Those who use SNAP benefits frequently rely on the program to purchase food, but some are discovering that their funds can be stolen with no possibility of reimbursement.
While food stamp fraud has existed for a long time, a federal reimbursement program has been able to assist those affected. Congress recently blocked a program that reimburses people who have had their SNAP benefits stolen.
Food stamp fraud steals millions of dollars from the government, which has far-reaching consequences for those receiving SNAP benefits.
“We are talking about single mothers. We’re talking about families that require these benefits. “These are people who rely on these benefits to survive,” said social worker Lakisa Dukes.
Thousands are now being targeted, and they must find ways to survive without the money they rely on for food. “That is literally all I have to work with. So when I went to the store the next day, everything was gone,” said 19-year-old Kaiden Bickmeyer, whose SNAP benefits had been stolen.
Bickmeyer’s card was declined when he went to the store to buy food. “It kind of hurt my feelings badly because that’s all I had for that week,” Bickmeyer told me. He checked his account and saw this message: “A food assistance purchase in the amount of $220.95 was posted on January 7.”
Kaiden made the purchase at a store in Massachusetts while spending the entire day in Columbus. “This happened in September. Christopher Swartzbeck said, “I was in my second month of recovery, and when you are in recovery, you need the SNAP.” Swartzbeck had his SNAP benefits stolen last year.
“I had planned to go get meat. All the good stuff, and I checked my card at six a.m. and it was gone,” Swartzbeck explained. “As soon as it hit the account, it was gone by somebody in New York.”
The same thing happened to Shadawna Collier. “I was embarrassed for one reason: I had a lot of groceries at the register. And I was devastated. I was hurt because, you know, now I’m basically out of luck for the rest of the month,” Collier explained.
Their money was stolen just hours after their SNAP cards were funded for the month. “They’re being victimized because they can’t, and they don’t have food. There are currently very limited resources. “So it’s just really frustrating,” Dukes explained.
4 Investigators discovered that nearly 27,000 people in Ohio reported having their SNAP benefits stolen last year, resulting in the loss of nearly $14 million in taxpayer money. Almost 7,000 of those victims were in Franklin County, where more than $3 million was stolen.
“When I went to Job and Family Services, they had a specific line for people like they directed people to a certain line that this had happened to,” Collier told me.
Last year, Collier and Swartzbeck’s benefits were stolen, and the federal government reimbursed them. However, the 2025 American Relief Act does not include funding to replace stolen SNAP benefits.
Anyone who is currently impacted, such as Bickmeyer, will not receive a refund. “I had nothing left once that was gone,” Bickmeyer admitted.
According to Ohio Job and Family Services, SNAP cards are outdated and easy to skim. That means that the card information can be stolen using a device or code installed by criminals on the payment machines you use.
Adding a chip to the card could help to prevent fraud, but this change must be approved by Congress.
“These people belong to a population of vulnerable people who are hungry. They don’t have the time to wait months and months for something to pass through the legislative branch and all other branches of government. “This is an immediate need,” Dukes stated.
Four investigators reached out to Congresswoman Joyce Beatty’s office. She issued a statement, claiming that House Republicans “stripped a key provision from the December stopgap funding bill that would have helped victims recoup their stolen benefits.”
“Congress must permanently reinstate this provision in the farm bill and continue supporting efforts to improve security for EBT cards so we can end SNAP ‘skimming’ theft for good,” Beatty went on.
We also contacted Congressman Mike Carey’s office. They mentioned that it is on their radar.
There are several methods for protecting SNAP benefits, including locking and unlocking your card with each purchase. Additional information can be found here.
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