By Elizabeth Chuck—
NBC News
An Oregon senator plans to introduce a bill Thursday that would dramatically increase the security of the benefit cards that low-income families use to buy food.
The bill comes amid an alarming number of thefts from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, whose electronic benefit transfer cards contain data on a magnetic strip that criminals can easily clone using
devices hidden from
skimming
.
Thieves produce duplicate cards they use to steal victims' SNAP funds.
Skimming
is not unique to SNAP EBT cards, but embedded microchips and other features, such as contactless payments, have long combated this form of electronic theft on consumers' credit and debit cards
.
A SNAP EBT card in South Carolina.Alamy
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, no states currently issue chip-enabled SNAP EBT cards.
Some, like California, are planning to transition to these types of devices.
The bipartisan, bicameral bill, shared first with NBC News, will be introduced by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.
This would direct the USDA to update cybersecurity standards for all SNAP EBT cards for the first time since 2010, requiring them to have microchips.
“Families are now more vulnerable than ever to theft of their SNAP benefits by criminals,” Wyden said in a telephone interview.
“This is simply unacceptable for 2024 in the United States.”
Liliya Kondratyuk, a daycare teacher and single mother living in Lynn, Massachusetts, had her SNAP benefits stolen in 2022 just before Thanksgiving.
She learned that her funds had been taken while she was trying to pay for groceries at the supermarket, and discovered that more than $750 had been taken from her, leaving less than one in her account, she said. she.
“It devastated me,” Kondratyuk said, adding that she had about $200 worth of food in her cart when her card was declined.
"I felt embarrassed".
Kondratyuk eventually received reimbursement from the state for the stolen funds, but he noted that the theft caused him financial problems for months.
He believes Thursday's bill is urgent so that families — including his own — don't have to go through the same experience.
“I don't want to always have that worry in my head,” he said.
“Is it going to happen again?”
SNAP theft has proliferated in recent years.
In late 2022, Congress authorized states to use federal funds to reimburse robbery victims in certain circumstances through September 2024, but Wyden noted that has only provided a partial solution.
[The Government prohibits banks from charging more than $8 in late payment fees to credit cards]
“That's helpful, but it doesn't address the root of the problem,” he said.
“The root of the problem is the lackluster security of SNAP cards.”
So far in fiscal year 2024, more than $30 million in stolen benefits have been replaced nationwide, according to the USDA.
Thursday's bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, and John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat.
“SNAP is supposed to help people who are food insecure,” Cassidy told NBC News.
“It's not supposed to help the thieves who steal these benefits.
“This combats criminals while preserving benefits for those most in need.”
Fetterman echoed this, adding in a statement that it was “despicable that thieves are targeting hungry vulnerable families with cybercrime scams.”
The House companion bill will be led by Reps. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.
Wyden mentioned that he hopes the bill will pass as part of the Farm Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that comes up for renewal later this year and reauthorizes federal programs like SNAP.
His bill requires states to begin issuing chip-enabled EBT cards within two years.
[Credit card debt hits record as late payments also skyrocket]
“If it was up to me, it would have been yesterday,” Wyden said.
“There are fundamental issues regarding technology that have to be applied.”
Organizations fighting hunger and poverty backed the bill, including the nonprofit Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, which has fought for reimbursement for scam victims in its state.
Vicky Negus, policy advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, praised the bill for supporting SNAP participants beyond simply adding chip technology to EBT cards.
The bill would also require the USDA to update regulations on anti-fraud technology every five years so that the program keeps pace with credit and debit card security.
Additionally, it would require states to issue a replacement card within three days if an EBT card is stolen or cloned by fraudsters.
“The goal is to ensure that everyone has equal protection, period,” Negus concluded.