Stolen SNAP Benefits Remain A Major Problem Across Georgia
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Stolen SNAP benefits are a problem throughout the United States, and Georgia is no exception. A citizen alerted the Sentinel to problems he’s run into when attempting to use his SNAP benefits in early February. While his problems started toward the end of 2024, scammers have been getting rich from stolen food stamps for much longer than the last few months.
The Dade County Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) office directed the citizen to the state level (the Georgia Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General), but he was unable to find a satisfactory solution.
Unfortunately, there’s not much information about the problem on the local scale. Dade’s DFCS office was unable to comment on the situation, but the office connected the Sentinel with the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS).
For some background, Congress passed a law in December 2022 that replaced SNAP benefits which are stolen by fraud. Cases from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2024, were eligible, but Congress later passed an extension in Sept. 2022 so that cases up until Dec. 20, 2024, were eligible.
As the DHS Office of Communications explained, “This was a federally instituted and funded program that the previous Congress opted to no longer fund, making SNAP benefits stolen on or after Dec. 21, 2024, ineligible for replacement.”
The Sentinel asked how many cases of SNAP fraud were reported in Dade County in 2024, but DHS doesn’t track cases at the county level. However, a state-wide total of 26,456 benefit replacement requests were approved since the program was instituted by Congress in 2022.
Atlanta news stations have been covering the issue over the last year. On Oct. 9, 2024, FOX 5 Atlanta reported that DHS had issued nearly $3 million in replacement food stamps since fall 2023.
On Nov. 26, 2024, the news company reported an updated number of $6.4 million in refunds since Oct. 2023. One person told FOX 5 that she had been a victim three months in a row.
Local 3 News also covered the issue in north Georgia. A common theme among reports is that the stolen funds are being used in other states all across the nation. Reports throughout the state indicate that funds are stolen as soon as they are loaded onto EBT cards.
DHS reported, “We continue to remind customers who think they’ve been the victim of card skimming, card cloning, or other similar fraud involving their public benefits to change their PIN and lock or replace their card immediately and then report the incident to the DHS Office of Inspector General at inspectorgeneralhotline@dhs.ga.gov or 877-423-4746, option six.”
At the end of 2024, the state launched a card lock feature to attempt to prevent fraud. It involves downloading an app (ConnectEBT) or using the ConnectEBT website to unlock EBT cards immediately before making a purchase and lock them again as soon as the purchase is complete. Customers can choose whether their cards are locked everywhere (including Georgia) or only outside of Georgia.
DHS also advises, “Practice good online security habits like maintaining strong, unique passwords and not clicking suspicious links or sharing sensitive information with unknown sources. Customers are also encouraged to change their PIN often, including right before their benefit issuance date.”
The Sentinel asked if the state is working to track down scammers or if the FBI will be involved. DHS replied, “Investigations into SNAP theft vary by location and amount. DHS takes SNAP fraud very seriously and works closely with our partners in law enforcement at the state, federal, and local level.”
Food stamps fraud not only hurts the people depending on SNAP benefits to feed their families, but it also hurts all taxpayers while the thieves get away with stealing taxpayer funds. When the fund replacement program was active, the amount of taxes needed to fund SNAP was significantly higher—over $6 million a year higher.
