An estimated 1,800 Rhode Island residents were affected by a swath of Electronic Benefits Transfer card thefts in the Providence, Pawtucket and Cranston area during the first week of March, according to a press release by the Rhode Island Department of Human Services.
Approximately $500,000 was stolen from customers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a food assistance program that provides benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget. SNAP participants use EBT cards to pay for food at participating supermarkets, stores and other retailers.
According to R.I. DHS, the thefts were carried out with EBT card skimmers, devices that are attached to store checkout machines and steal account information when someone uses their card.
“The majority of these skimming activities took place at one location,” the press release reads, adding that “these devices have been located and removed.” The department did not specify where the machines were located.
But these skimming devices can be difficult to detect, especially when they are installed on infrastructure like gas station credit card readers, Ernesto Zaldivar, associate professor of the practice of computer science and engineering, wrote in an email to The Herald.
Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, state SNAP agencies could access federal funding to reimburse SNAP benefits stolen via card skimmer or other fraudulent methods. But the act’s authority expired last December, requiring SNAP state agencies to resort to state funds for reimbursement.
Rhode Island lawmakers have not allocated any funds to cover these losses in the state budget, WJAR reported. It is unclear whether theft victims will receive any reimbursements.
R.I. DHS declined to provide additional comment due to the ongoing investigation.
“We had a husband and wife with three boys come in looking for help,” Lydia Goode, a coordinator at low-income advocacy nonprofit George Wiley Center, recalled in an interview with The Herald.
The family, who were victims of the scam, were told by R.I. DHS that they would not be reimbursed for the funds that were stolen, according to Goode.
“How are you supposed to feed three hungry boys with no money for the rest of the month?” said Goode, who also receives EBT funding herself.
These fraudulent activities “just make you feel stuck,” she added.
In 2024, just under 145,000 Rhode Island residents — approximately 13% of the population — received SNAP benefits.
For Andrew Schiff, the CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, it’s “too soon to tell” the effects of the March theft on food bank customers. “There are lots of different things that are impacting people right now,” he added.
The food bank has been in ongoing communication with R.I. DHS about the number of affected people so that the organization can remain prepared, Schiff said.
“I recognize the level of concern, frustration and uncertainty this can cause for our SNAP community,” R.I. DHS Director Kimberly Merolla-Brito said in the press release. “I appreciate the hard work of our State and federal partners as we continue to investigate this immediate issue.”
Schiff hopes that R.I. DHS “would find a way to replace those benefits that were lost.”
“The people who lost their benefits didn’t do anything wrong,” Schiff said. “They’re victims of a crime.”
Zach Robel is a Senior Staff Writer from Corvallis, Oregon, studying economics and environmental studies at Brown.
