The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General projected that $233 million may have been lost to food-assistance theft over two years, largely through card skimming, according to NPR‘s October reporting. In most states, the stolen benefits are not replaced. USDA and state agencies publish a short list of steps that SNAP households can take.
Why Most States Do Not Replace Stolen Benefits
NPR reported that the federal government temporarily replaced more than $320 million in stolen benefits for nearly 670,000 households between October 2022 and December 2024. That authority has since ended. According to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration, a law passed in December 2022 required states to replace benefits stolen between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2024, and a later act moved the end date to Dec. 20, 2024.
A later law did not extend the authority to benefits stolen after Dec. 20, 2024, the agency says. Replacement now depends on each state, and NPR’s reporting is that most do not provide it. Georgia’s Division of Family & Children Services says in a notice on its site that stolen benefits after that date are not eligible for replacement and that its own replacement program ended June 20, 2025. Debit and credit cardholders are covered by a separate federal law, and NPR said Congress excluded SNAP recipients from those protections in 1996, citing a 2025 Government Accountability Office report.
How the Skimming Works
USDA describes skimming this way: thieves place an illegal device on an ATM or a retailer’s card-swiping machine to copy EBT card information, then use it to make fake cards, a step called cloning. The fake cards are used to buy food at SNAP-authorized stores.
NPR quoted Michael Peck of the Secret Service as saying that organized groups often time their theft to the start of each month, when benefits arrive. Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services said in a May 2025 notice that thieves often hold stolen card information until monthly distributions, when larger amounts can be taken. The department urged recipients to lock their cards and change PINs ahead of each issuance.
The Steps USDA Lists for SNAP Households
The Food and Nutrition Administration’s tips for SNAP participants begin with PIN choices. Simple combinations such as 1111, 1234 and 9876 are listed as easy for others to guess, and the PIN and card number are to be kept secret from anyone outside the household. The agency also lists covering the keypad during PIN entry.
The agency says state agencies and EBT processors never call or text to ask for a PIN or card number, which makes any such request phishing. Its list calls for PIN changes at least monthly, timed before the benefit issuance date, and regular checks of the EBT account for unauthorized charges. When a charge appears, the agency’s tips call for an immediate PIN change and a report to the local SNAP office. A sister-site post is titled 7 Things a Real Bank Will Never Do When Calling a Customer.
Card Lock Tools in Pennsylvania and Georgia
Several state agencies point to app features. Georgia’s Division of Family & Children Services tells people who think they have been victims of skimming to lock or replace the card right away, report it to the Department of Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and, if money was lost, file a police report.
Pennsylvania’s notice describes two lock options in the ConnectEBT app, which lets recipients lock and unlock cards. One setting stops all purchases, including in-store and online, while another stops purchases at stores outside the state but still allows purchases in Pennsylvania and online. The state’s notice also lists an auto re-lock feature.
InvestigateTV, in a May 2026 report carried by local stations, said Georgia’s Department of Human Services was one of the first states to roll out a mobile app for locking and unlocking cards, launched in December 2024. Because the tools vary by state and EBT processor, the app a household can use depends on the state that issued the card. Frenz Hub has a post titled How To Save Money Fast – 26 Easy Tips. App-based grocery savings are the subject of a sister-site post titled A Mom of Two Who Posts as ‘Victoria’s Meal Prep’ Says Kroger Clearance Can Run as Much as 65% Off, and the Best App Deals Sit Past the First Page.
Where Chip Cards Stand
The National Council on Aging, in a May 20 article, explains that EBT cards do not have the chips that let debit and credit cards be tapped to pay, so swipes leave benefits open to skimming. NCOA also notes that scammers may collect PIN or card numbers through links in text messages, and it lists hard-to-guess PINs changed monthly among protective steps. Frenz Hub has a post titled 15 Wallet-Friendly Life Hacks That’ll Actually Make a Difference.
California became the first state to issue chip-enabled EBT cards in early 2025 and reported a consistent decline in theft over the following months, NPR said. Fewer than a third of states have upgraded or plan to upgrade their cards, according to USDA. NPR, citing a Government Accountability Office report, said chip cards are about 10 times more expensive to produce than magnetic-stripe cards.
A Reality Check on Protective Steps
The steps are precautions, and they do not undo a theft that has already happened. NPR noted that state efforts to address skimming often put the burden on recipients, such as changing PINs monthly or keeping cards locked, and a Government Accountability Office director told the outlet that locking requires a smartphone, which not every household has. InvestigateTV reported that criminals are hacking store point-of-sale systems and that some of the stores listed on fraudulent transactions said they were closed at the time or do not accept EBT. Frenz Hub also has a post titled 10 Clever Frugal Living Tips: Save Big on a Tiny Budget.
USDA directs households that see unauthorized charges to contact the local SNAP office, and Georgia’s agency points to its OIG report line. Whether a stolen amount is replaced depends on the state.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Anselm Schüler – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
