EXCLUSIVE: Delawareans had their food stamps stolen right before Christmas
DOVER, Del. – In the days leading up to Christmas, a number of Delawareans went to swipe their food stamps cards only to find that their balances had been wiped out and stolen in a fraud scheme that’s sweeping the country.
WMDT News received word this week that several people had their food stamps balances emptied leading up to the holiday. As those people investigated, and contacted the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), it was learned that the transactions occurred out-of-state and were the result of fraud.
One of the instances we learned about involved a Dover man who had over $200 in benefits stolen off his card with the transaction linked to a convenience store in New York City.
WMDT’s Rob Petree sat down for an exclusive interview today with social services to get some answers.
“It seems as if as soon as the benefits are loaded onto the card, maybe they get loaded on at midnight, then 12:01 a.m., they’re taken off the card,” explained Crystal Marione, a Social Service Senior Administrator at DHSS.
The fraud could be the result of skimming, phishing, or even text messaging scams. State officials aren’t sure and are still working with the federal government to investigate and replace the stolen benefits.
“The benefits are being electronically stolen due to fraud while the clients may still have the card in their possession whether it’s skimming, or phishing, they’re getting really savvy with their fraudulent schemes out there,” Marion said. “Delaware Health and Social Services will never call, text, or email a client and say ‘you need to provide us with your card number or your pin.'”
DHSS is now urging anyone who receives food stamps to remain vigilant and consider one of several steps to help prevent fraud, including a feature online where benefit recipients can lock their cards when they’re not using them.
“You can actually lock your card,” Marion said. “You can lock it until you’re at the register ready to use it, and then unlock it. So, you can use the card and lock it again, or you can have it set to lock after 30 minutes because some people may forget to reset it themselves.”
Anyone who had their food stamps stolen can contact DHSS to get those benefits replaced.
“We are processing them as quickly as possible,” Marion said. “If the form is filled out completely, all the transactions are identified, it goes over to our Audit and Recovery Unit, they do their part and verify the information and everything, and it could be as quickly as 10 days.”
However, if it happens more than twice, unfortunately, Marion tells us DHSS won’t be able to replace the benefits.
“The federal government is funding these replacement benefits, so they are authorizing us to only replace two-months benefits,” Marion said. “So, if you’ve already got your benefits stolen and replaced two-months worth already, then that would make this one, ya know, we wouldn’t be able to replace that, the federal funds are not available for that.”
Delawareans who receive food stamps can lock their cards by visiting: connectebt.com – and for those who need to report fraud or speak with the state can find a full list of service centers by visiting: dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dss/ofclocations
