Gone in a SNAP: Those who lost benefits in e-theft won't get money replaced
Area residents who apparently had their federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits stolen electronically earlier this month have one thing in common — they won't be getting those lost funds replaced.
Total benefit losses are estimated at more than $10,000 for the at least 71 Meadville residents who filed theft reports with Meadville Police Department on Feb. 12 and 13, Chief Michael Stefanucci told The Meadville Tribune.
Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) said it received 105 cases of benefit theft from Crawford County on those two days. However, some of the 105 DHS reports could overlap with the 71 city police reports, according to the department.
The residents had their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) accounts drained after a scheduled Feb. 12 disbursement of SNAP benefits, Stefanucci said.
The actual total loss is even more than $10,000 with the likelihood there were additional cases that just weren't reported, the chief added.
Those impacted won't have the lost funds replaced, Brandon Cwalina, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, said in an email Thursday to the Tribune.
'It is accurate that benefits stolen after December 20, 2024, cannot be replaced due to the end of Congressional authorization,' Cwalina wrote.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, had federal policy requiring states to replace benefits stolen in card skimming or cloning crimes between Oct. 1, 2022, and Dec. 20. 2024. But, Congress did not authorize an extension of the funds-replacement policy.
'We believe it was cyber-based,' Stefanucci said of how so many accounts locally were impacted at the same time.
The victims' accounts had charges being made to their cards all over the country, suggesting it was an organized effort that could be selling the account information.
'The (account) numbers could have been taken two months ago and they were just waiting for a (monthly) reload (of funds),' Stefanucci said. 'It was a 'hit and move on' crime.'
There was no indication the individual accounts had been hacked.
Also, Stefanucci said officers checked area retailers that sell grocery items, but they did not find any skimming devices attached to point-of-sale card reading machines.
A skimmer attaches to an ATM (automated teller machine) or other card-reading device. Disguised to look like part of the machine, the skimmer is then used to steal credit or debit card information when a customer inserts a card.
Congressman Mike Kelly, a Republican whose district includes Crawford County, 'has received very few inquiries regarding the reported EBT thefts and investigations ongoing in the region,' Matt Knoedler, spokseman for Kelly, said in an email Thursday.
'At this time, we cannot comment on potential legislative action,' Knoedler added about possible renewal of the funds replacement benefit. 'But, we are continuing to monitor and review this matter at the federal level.'
Meanwhile, state Sen. Michele Brooks, a Republican whose district includes all of Crawford County, calls the EBT thefts 'a national crisis.'
'It's happening throughout the country,' she said.
The state Department of Human Services is looking at different ways potentially to safeguard accounts, Brooks added.
One change would be making the four-digit personal identification number a six-digit number instead. Another would be to embed all EBT cards with a computer chip and make sure all point-of-sale terminals are chip readers. However, preliminary estimates are that could cost $7 million to $7.5 million for a complete rollout.
'We're trying to make it more complicated (to steal information) by making it more secure,' Brooks said. 'It (SNAP) is a federal program, but we need to have a conversation between the feds and the state. We need to work together and there needs to be a greater effort to mitigate scams.'
State Rep. Brad Roae, a Republican whose district covers Meadville and central and western Crawford County, said he sympathizes with those who lost funds but noted it's up to Congress to authorize replacement of benefits, not Pennsylvania.
'Where would we get the the money (at the state level)?' Roae said. 'I don't know how it would work. It's a federal program. If the state refunded money, we'd have to cut somewhere else to offset the costs.'
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