CHICAGO (CBS) – Illinoisans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed themselves and their families are now being paid back the money fraudsters stole.
Elizabeth Fandl lives in Berwyn. She was one of those targeted by thieves. She's on a fixed income and she really depends on the SNAP money she gets every month.
"I rely on it for food," she said.
One day, a few months ago, she checked her Link Card balance and discovered all her money had suddenly disappeared.
"I had it in my purse when I found out it had zero on there," she said.
Elizabeth Fandl had SNAP funds stolen
Tim Viste/CBS Chicago
The last amount she received in late February was for more than $200, the last time she received the pandemic-boosted amount.
Her transaction history showed the deposit and a few small transactions in the few days afterward.
But then, an unusual transaction appeared. A transaction she says didn't make.
"I was angry, I was upset and I was scared," she said.
The unauthorized transaction was for $181.75 at a store near her home. She immediately reported the theft to the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), which oversees the SNAP program.
"And they said we are looking into that. There has been a high incidence of hacking and you have definitely been hacked."
THE FRAUD
Fandl isn't the only person in Illinois victimized by hackers.
Trey Daly is the Public Benefits Practice Group Director for Legal Aid Chicago.
"We're continuing to see people whose SNAP is stolen. The most recent case we've seen is from June," said Daly.
IDHS acknowledged it has received 5,000 reports of fraud from August 2022 to early July 2023.
Nationwide SNAP benefits stolen by scammers has skyrocketed, according to the data analytics firm, LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
Haywood Talcove is the organization's Chief Executive Officer of its Government Division.
"The number of cards being stolen from the food insecure went from 18,000 in Q4 to over 250,000 police reports since then," said Talcove.
How do thieves steal the benefits from Link or other Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards?
"Their card is stolen because a skimmer is put on one of those POS (point of sale) terminals or a bot's been used to steal their card number."
There's finally some good news for the hundreds of thousands who've become victims of the thieves.
Some of that stolen money is now starting to be given back to the people who need it the most.
THE REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS
Federal Omnibus legislation passed in December that allotted $153 billion for the entire SNAP program required states to create and implement a way to reimburse recipients who reported fraud.
The first state to adopt and implement its plan was Maryland in March.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced 6,800 claims had been approved and more than $4 million had been reimbursed in the first month to SNAP program participants.
Illinois' plan was not approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) until two months later, in May.
Everyone who previously reported fraud to IDHS will have to file a formal EBT Theft Claim form. IDHS has started reaching out to some of those people. Claims can be submitted online here, in person at an office, or over the phone at 1-800-843-6154.
Once submitted and approved, SNAP recipients should receive their reimbursement
CONCERNS REMAIN
Despite this solution for restoring stolen benefits, some concerns remain.
For one, the reimbursement program pertains to fraud between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2024.
That's not long enough according to Legal Aid Chicago's Trey Daly. "We also have around 25 clients from prior to October 1, who experienced theft, and so far, no relief has been made available to them."
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) echoed Daly's concern and is worried that the reimbursement requirement is only temporary.
"I see that as a two-year window for us to make it permanent through legislation in the Congress," Schakowsky said.
A bigger concern for Talcove, the fraud expert, is that the reimbursement program helps the most vulnerable people after they've been hacked and hurt, not before.
"You can't continue to use a mag strip card. That technology is from the 70s," he said. "Nobody in their right mind today, with all the fraud that is going on, would allow a financial transaction to interact with that type of card."
Talcove would like to see EBT cards with the same, more secure chip technology that credit cards have and store machines that can accept chip-enabled cards.
"That authentication and that encryption prevents the number from being stolen as well as the password from being stolen," he said.
In its reimbursement plan, IDHS noted, "In addition, Illinois is in current discussion with the EBT Vendor, FIS, on what additional preventative measures are available."
Illinois' EBT vendor, FIS, would not comment on whether it is considering putting chips in Link cards.
CBS 2 learned Illinois is one of five states chosen to participate in an FNS pilot program called Mobile Contactless Payment. That program would allow SNAP recipients to pay in stores by putting their phone up to the payment terminal, rather than by swiping their card.
The FNS says that pilot is not expected to start in Illinois until at least August 2024.
Chicago native. Multiple Emmy & Murrow Regional Award-winning producer. I have been with CBS News Chicago for more than two decades. Outside of work, I love spending time with family & friends and I love the snow!
