Skimmers Are Draining Millions in SNAP Benefits as Congress Stalls on Chip Cards

Criminal rings stole an estimated $470 million in food assistance electronically from more than 990,000 SNAP households in 2025, according to data from the benefits app Propel shared with ProPublica, which reports that the federal government has stopped tracking the crime. In one case, a Romania-based syndicate used stolen card numbers and PINs from at least 174 victims to buy more than $300,000 worth of energy drinks in San Diego over a few months in 2022.

Reporter Eli Hager found that theft by outsiders dwarfs fraud by recipients, which USDA reports put at about $64 million a year. Federal investigators, including the Secret Service, have urged Congress to require chip-enabled benefit cards, and congressional staff estimated a bipartisan chip proposal would cost about $215 million, far less than the annual losses. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson nonetheless blocked it.

Federal reimbursement of stolen benefits lapsed after a December 2024 extension collapsed. Some states are moving on their own: California says it has cut benefit theft by as much as 83% in two years, and Alabama reports no confirmed theft since it began issuing chip cards this year.

Read the original story at ProPublica.