Delaware replaces more than $615,000 in stolen SNAP benefits so far in 2024
SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. (CBS) — Julie Ebeling is holding back tears Monday morning after she said her EBT card was wiped clean. She found out while trying to pay for groceries last week.
"I'm in tears. There's nothing else I can say. Like someone literally just stole all my food for the month," Ebeling said. "It was horrible. People behind me were like willing to pay and I was like, 'No, you shouldn't have to, I appreciate it,' but I felt embarrassed."
The Sussex County, Delaware woman said that days before she was due to receive $274 in monthly food stamps, she received a call asking her to verify her account information. Scared she would lose her benefits, she called back, providing her account number and PIN.
"It said this was the Social Services of Delaware just calling to confirm your identity for food stamps... It sounded real as could be," Ebeling said. "And it wasn't."
Immediately, the 57-year-old went to her local social services office and filed a police report. She said her card and benefits were used in New York City, a place she had not been to in some 15 years.
Nearly a week after this happened, Ebeling is still waiting for a new card to come in the mail, which, she was told, will have her replacement benefits on it.
"I'm without food and without my card – I feel naked," Ebeling said.
No one from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services was available for an interview on Monday by CBS News Philadelphia's deadline. However, a spokesperson said the department is aware of the phone scam and that the agency "will never contact clients to request" EBT card numbers or pins.
The spokesperson also shared that since DHHS started replacing benefits on Dec. 1, 2023, it's had 1,500 stolen benefit reports, with about 1,470 resolved. Typically, the spokesperson added, it takes 10 business days to get replacement benefits. With "spikes in fraud reporting," it could take longer.
So far, in 2024, DHSS has replaced "around $619,000 in stolen SNAP benefits."
U.S. Secret Service investigating
On July 9, CBS News Philadelphia interviewed Michael Centrella, the special agent in charge at the U.S. Secret Service's Philadelphia field office.
"This is one wing of a criminal organization we call transnational organized crime, which is coming out of Eastern Europe," Centrella said.
The agency is in charge of investigating all financial crimes, including EBT fraud. Throughout CBS News Philadelphia's reporting, we shared how the Secret Service is investigating EBT fraud as part of transnational organized crime.
"In 2022, financial crimes across the United States had a loss of about $10 billion. Skimming itself, about $1 billion. Of that here in Pennsylvania, about $250 million," Centrella said.
For the last 18-24 months, the Secret Service says it's seen an increase in "point-of-sale" — which means where retail transactions are made — along with "ATM skimming-related activity."
While card skimming is often used with EBT fraud, we contacted Centrella again after hearing from Ebeling. He classifies the phone scam she endured as a phishing scam.
"The scams haven't changed. Some of the techniques have changed. Some of the targeting victims have changed. But as financial crimes evolve, as securities on our credit cards, securities on our financial systems change, so do the criminals," Centrella said.
Centrella notes that EBT cards are easy targets because they lack additional security features, like a microchip. He added that the agency is working alongside lawmakers to get chip cards into the hands of those using public assistance.