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Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How grocery stores are combatting SNAP benefit thefts in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — NBC4 Investigates is hearing from people who are being robbed; people using SNAP benefits, once known as food stamps, are logging in to their accounts to find their money is gone. Now, we are getting a look at the first line of defense: the stores where we all shop. A Columbus market on the north side showed how it keeps customers safe — by using a device that blocks others from tampering with their credit card machines. These by no means are everywhere and SNAP cards are an easier target because they don't have the microchip technology, which became widely used in 2015. That means millions of dollars are being stolen from those relying on this money to survive. 'It kind of hurt my feelings badly because that's all I had for that week,' SNAP fraud victim Kaiden Bickmeyer said. 'I cried. I mean, I'm struggling and it's not fair to my kids,' SNAP fraud victim Mindy Hurley said. Those are just two of the victims we spoke with who have experienced snap theft potentially through skimming. A skimmer is a device that steals your card information. It's something that Weiland's market in North Columbus keeps an eye out for. How security upgrade could help Ohioans who have SNAP benefits stolen 'We have anti-skimming devices at all the pin pads. So what that does when someone puts in their card it then scrambles the information. So if someone does try to come in and skim information from it, there's nothing to get,' Weiland's Market Co-Owner Daniel Phillips said. He's had them at his store for about a year. 'If I was using SNAP benefits, I would kind of hope and assume that businesses would have implemented it by now,' Phillips said. NBC4 Investigates checked with other central Ohio grocery stores and gas stations. One told us they check their devices every morning, another said they don't have any protections. 'It used to be a gas station problem. Right? Well, now it's anywhere and everywhere. And these scammers have gotten more and more intelligent,' Ohio Grocers Association CEO Kristin Mullins said. The Ohio Grocers Association is a lobbying organization that represents mostly independent grocery stores. 'Grocers across the state, probably across the country are doing what they can to protect that,' Mullins said. Scams to get your card information can look very different; it could be a small device stuck onto a card reader or someone could be using sleight of hand to run your card through another device, before charging it. 'We found over 600 credit cards inside of just one of these two devices,' Whitehall Division of Police Deputy Chief Dan Kelso said. Whitehall Police caught a man using this skimmer at a gas station. They said he took customers' cards and ran them through this before charging them on the store device. 'We've got a call from a victim who stated, hey, my credit card was used at your target, but it's still in my hand. What's going on?' Kelso said. Surveillance video and license plate readers helped Whitehall Police track down the suspect, and arrest him, with the devices on him. Deputy Chief Dan Kelso says to keep an eye out for anything that looks like it may have been stuck onto a credit card machine and try not to hand your card over to anyone. 'Give us a call. Let us come check that out right away. I mean, you might be saving a lot of financial heartache to people,' Kelso said. Despite chip-based card technology gaining in popularity a decade ago in the United States, only three states have made progress in updating SNAP cards too. Now, Ohio might join that list and the upgrade would pay for itself in less than a year. Two state representatives have introduced legislation that would require the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to add chip technology to all Ohio SNAP cards over the next two years. In Ohio last year, nearly 27,000 people reported their SNAP benefits stolen, almost $14 million dollars of taxpayer money, gone. This bill could stop a majority of those thefts. The Republican representative who co-introduced it calls it a no-brainer. 'We have two paths forward, one independent legislation which we have introduced and then secondarily where we have tried to put it in the budget as a budget amendment. So again, just working with the leadership team in the House and the Senate to get that through,' Rep. Kellie Deeter (R-Norwalk) said. If this moves forward the state would be investing about five million dollars in this security upgrade. The other half would come from the federal government. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
How security upgrade could help Ohioans who have SNAP benefits stolen
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A security upgrade could save thousands of Ohioans from being a target of theft but it's an upgrade the government has to approve. 4 Investigates first told you last week: People on SNAP benefits, the program that used to be known as food stamps, are being targeted and taxpayers are victims, too. This has become an issue for Ohioans and has spread through the country. 4 Investigates reached out to every single Ohio representative in Congress asking if this is a priority for them. We've only received a few responses, so now we are taking the issue to our state representatives, asking if targeted Ohioans will receive any help. 'I've had my food stamps stolen twice, and I'm a single parent of three kids,' Columbus resident Mindy Hurley said. Since 4 Investigates shared the story last week, more Ohioans have reached out saying they are the target of SNAP theft: When card skimmers on credit card machines capture account information. Ohio schools risk federal funding if they teach 'unpatriotically' under Trump order 'I literally went to get cereal and milk for my kids for breakfast. And when I went to swipe my card, it said zero. And then I checked my balance history and it said that they was all stolen,' Hurley said. In the last year, there has been 7,000 Franklin County reports of SNAP fraud. Across Ohio, it's nearly 27,000. 'There are criminals that are preying on vulnerable people who are facing hunger and hardship, who are showing up in grocery store lines to buy the groceries their families need, and who are finding that criminals have skimmed their benefits from their accounts,' Ohio Association of Food Banks Executive Director Joree Novotny said. This crime combined with the end of pandemic era SNAP benefit increases is driving more people to food banks. 'The need we've seen over the past two years is unlike anything we've seen,' Novotny said. The Ohio Association of Food Banks saw more than four million food pantry visits across the state from July through September of last year. 'We're seeing people continue to come to our lines and tell us in tears about how they're coming for help because they went to the grocery store to use their SNAP benefits and they weren't there on their cards,' Novotny said. It's a feeling Mindy Hurley knows firsthand. She's had to cancel two different cards after having hundreds drained from her account. 'I cried. I mean, I'm struggling and it's not fair to my kids,' Hurley said. There is a solution. 'The best solution that we know of and that we've been talking about with our elected officials is to modernize EBT cards, to chip enable them,' Novotny said. A nationwide change would come from Congress, but Ohio and other states can make that choice too. 'States have to be partners in those solutions because they have to pay half of all of the operating costs to administer the SNAP program. So we're certainly in conversation with the state of Ohio as well about how we can better protect consumers today,' Novotny said. Until a solution is in place, fear and uncertainty are just another thing those relying on SNAP have to deal with. 'If it happened twice, it can happen again,' Hurley said. 'I have three food stamp cards sitting in my house because I had to cancel them twice. And now I got a new one, and I'm scared.' Watch: Garbage collectors in Whitehall walk away unscathed from explosion 4 Investigates spoke with Ohio Senator Tim Schaffer. He says the issue is on his radar, and says the Ohio Senate has tried to pass reform without success. 'The Ohio Senate has led those efforts in the state of Ohio to reform how we operate with SNAP and the cards we put out there. Unfortunately, there are a lot of self-described advocates for the poor that have vigorously opposed our efforts to add security enhancements to the SNAP cards,' Sen. Schaffer said. Now, he says they are having more conversations about what can be done at the state level, despite it being a federal program. 'I think it's imperative that all states do everything that we can to investigate and add the next level of security enhancements on these snap food cards to prevent the criminal element from stealing these benefits. These benefits that are needed so desperate. And I think getting bipartisan support for an effort like that is, you know, a no brainer,' he said. We also received a statement from Ohio Senator Beth Liston who said 'I absolutely want to ensure that Ohioans get the food they need and receive the benefits they are entitled to. Security chips embedded into SNAP cards similar to those on credit cards may be a possible solution and I have had discussions with some advocacy groups about this idea. However, we also need to make sure that any changes to Ohio's SNAP system do not make it more difficult for Ohioans to access food and other vital benefits.' Two states are moving to chip cards: California and Oklahoma, and we'll track how that goes, to see if it cuts down on fraud. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
