State officials on Friday said they continue to investigate the theft of tens of thousands of dollars in food assistance from hundreds of Maine families.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said Friday afternoon that they were not aware of any new cases of fraud involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. So far, thieves operating in other states appear to have stolen at least $76,000 in SNAP benefits from approximately 300 households in Maine. Officials in other states are also reporting SNAP thefts in what appears to be a large-scale operation.
On Friday, DHHS received federal approval to block most out-of-state transactions using the EBT cards that SNAP recipients use to buy food. SNAP recipients will still be able to use their EBT cards inside Maine, however, as well as in New Hampshire, Vermont and to buy groceries from online retailers.
"Since that action was taken, we have received no new reports of thefts this morning or this afternoon," Ian Yaffe, director of the Office for Family Independence at DHHS, said in an interview. "So we are still holding at approximately 300 households impacted."
Individuals who need to use their EBT cards outside of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont can ask DHHS to activate their cards by calling 1-855-797-4357 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The department said the activation process can take up to 48 hours, however.
More than 170,000 individuals in Maine receive SNAP benefits, which are formerly known as food stamps.
Yaffe said law enforcement and the state's EBT card vendor are still investigating how the card numbers and PINs were stolen. But he said it does not appear to be a case of "skimming," which is when thieves use a hidden electronic device to steal that information as people swipe their cards.
"The more recent incidents that we've seen are generally a couple of households impacted at a time," Yaffe said. "And generally those are traced back to individual skimming devices at a retailer. And we have very few of them in Maine as well. But this is by far the largest electronic theft that we've seen in the history of the program here."
Fraud involving SNAP benefits has spiked in recent years. Yet at the same time, Congress has eliminated the ability of states to replace stolen benefits. Newsweek reported in June that fraudulent SNAP transactions increased 55% — or by nearly 250,000 transactions — between the last quarter of fiscal year 2024 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
Until late last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed states to restore the SNAP benefits of people who were the victims of theft or fraud. But Congress allowed that authority to expire in December. As a result, the roughly 300 households in Maine whose accounts were wiped out this month won't be eligible for more SNAP benefits until September. So DHHS is working to connect those households with food pantries or other community groups.
"We did reach out to USDA proactively, given the scale of this incident and the fact that it is involving many other states, to see if there was any flexibility here," Yaffe said. "And unfortunately we were not able to get any flexibility to replace those benefits."
DHHS officials are contacting affected SNAP recipients but stressed that the department never asks for a person's EBT card number or PIN. So if someone asks for that information, they said it's likely another scam.
DHHS officials are urging all SNAP recipients to take steps on their own to strengthen protections on their accounts. Those steps include:
- Immediately changing the PIN on their EBT card and avoiding easy-to-guess numbers, such as 1234 or birthdays.
- Activating the lock/unlock feature to temporarily block access to benefits when not in use.
- Blocking out-of-state or online transactions.
- Regularly reviewing activity on their accounts.
Those changes can be made online at the Pinetree Card website or by using the ebtEDGE app for mobile phones. Individuals who need assistance using the website or app can call Fidelity Information Services at 1-800-477-7428.
