Brooklyn family says they were robbed of $960 in SNAP benefits after purchasing milk
A Brooklyn family says their SNAP benefits were taken after they purchased some milk.
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Odaliz Tavares said his wife went to their local deli to buy a gallon of milk in early February, on the same day her benefits for the month came in.
He says minutes later, her entire EBT account balance of $960 was wiped out.
They said their account shows the card was actually used in Manhattan at 41 Madison Inc. Grocery, 16 miles away from where she swiped it.
"My wife had gone to get some food shopping,” said Tavares. “That's when she found out. When she went to swipe, it declined."
An online search of that store in Manhattan shows at least 10 reviews from other people sharing similar stories.
"I called 311,” said Tavares. “I called the food stamp place itself, and they said they can't do anything about it. They just said ‘make a police report.’
More than 100,000 claims of stolen SNAP benefits were reported by New Yorkers in 2024.
On the city's website, where people are supposed to file a claim for stolen benefits, there’s a striking message greeting beneficiaries right away:
“The federal authority that allowed for the replacement of skimmed SNAP benefits ended December 20, 2024. DSS is not allowed to issue SNAP skimming replacement for theft that occurs after December 20, 2024. You can still file claims for replacement of skimmed SNAP benefits after December 20, as long as the theft occurred on or before December 20, 2024 and the claim is filed within 30 days after you learned the benefits were stolen.”
However, people like Odaliz and his family are still getting scammed.
For now, the best thing to do is to closely inspect those card readers before swiping, check your account immediately and make use of the EBT card freeze feature on the EBTedge app.
MORE: Protect Your Benefits
