How SNAP Benefits Are Being Skimmed Away
By Greg Collier
Across the country, families who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are discovering that their food assistance can vanish overnight. Not because of overspending or lost cards, but because of skimming devices quietly harvesting EBT data at checkout counters.
A recent investigation in Wichita, Kansas, illustrates how easily it happens. A skimming device was found attached to a store’s point-of-sale terminal, and within days nearly $9,800 in SNAP benefits were stolen from 46 families. The benefits were drained using captured card numbers and PINs. The families were left with empty accounts and no way to recover the money.
What happened in Wichita is not unusual. It’s part of a growing pattern nationwide.
How This Scam Works Everywhere
Skimming devices are small, inexpensive, and easy to hide. Criminals attach them to card readers in grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retail locations that accept EBT cards. When a customer swipes or inserts their card, the device records the card information and PIN.
Once that data is captured, benefits can be emptied quickly, often in out-of-state or online transactions before the cardholder realizes anything is wrong.
Because SNAP benefits operate differently from credit or debit cards, victims usually discover the theft only when their card is declined at the register.
The Part Few People Realize: There Is No Safety Net
For years, a federal replacement program allowed states to reimburse stolen SNAP and TANF benefits. That funding has expired.
Now, in many states, stolen benefits are gone for good.
In the Wichita case, officials confirmed there was no state money available to reimburse victims and no longer any federally funded replacement mechanism. Similar situations have been reported across the country, leaving families without groceries, sometimes for the rest of the month.
This is what makes SNAP skimming uniquely devastating: the people harmed have the least ability to absorb the loss.
A Pattern Repeating Nationwide
Just one week before the Wichita discovery, a separate skimming operation in the Kansas City metro area affected hundreds of recipients, draining tens of thousands of dollars in SNAP and TANF benefits.
Those numbers mirror reports from other states, where EBT skimming rings have targeted benefit recipients because the payoff is immediate and the consequences for victims are permanent.
As long as EBT cards rely on magnetic stripes and PINs, the system remains vulnerable.
Why This Scam Hits Harder Than Credit Card Fraud
When a credit card is skimmed, banks usually reverse fraudulent charges. When SNAP benefits are skimmed, families lose access to food.
There is no automatic refund. There is no emergency replacement. And there is no national standard ensuring victims are made whole.
The result is a quiet crisis: households arriving at grocery stores with approved benefits, only to be told their balance is zero.
What SNAP Recipients Can Do Right Now
State agencies are urging recipients nationwide to take preventive steps:
- Monitor balances frequently using official EBT apps or portals
- Block out-of-state and online transactions when possible
- Freeze EBT cards when not in use
- Change PINs regularly
- Report suspicious activity immediately
These steps won’t stop skimming altogether, but they may limit how much is stolen before it’s detected.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t just about criminals attaching devices to card readers. It’s about a national benefits system that places the risk of fraud almost entirely on the people least able to bear it.
Until stronger protections or restored federal replacement funding are in place, SNAP skimming will remain one of the most damaging and least visible scams in the country.
And for the families affected, the loss isn’t theoretical.
It’s dinner.
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