"Fraudsters have been targeting the cards used to deliver it since at least 2021, taking over $320 million from Americans who rely on the program for food - though that's an undercount, as Agriculture stopped collecting data on the issue last year. The electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards used to deliver SNAP don't have microchips embedded in them like most credit and debit cards, making them vulnerable to skimming."
"Criminals use devices installed on point-of-sale terminals to steal the card's information when it's swiped, enabling those bad actors to create new, cloned cards and take the benefits. Taking action to switch to more secure cards ultimately falls to states, and in late 2022 Congress asked USDA to force states to do so via rulemaking, as part of a funding bill."
"We know what works to protect against skimming and we are not doing it," Betsy Gwin, senior economic justice attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute,"
Transnational crime rings have exploited vulnerabilities in SNAP EBT cards to steal at least $320 million since 2021, an undercount after USDA stopped collecting skimming data. EBT cards lack microchips, allowing criminals to install devices on point-of-sale terminals, capture card data, clone cards, and drain benefits. Responsibility for upgrading cards lies with states; only California has adopted chip cards so far. Congress asked USDA in late 2022 to require states to switch via rulemaking, but USDA has not acted. Funding constraints hinder upgrades, and recent SNAP law changes could make modernization more difficult.
Read at Nextgov.com
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