The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is urging welfare recipients to take security precautions after a wave of thefts drained EBT card accounts in multiple states, including Maine.
So far, the theft has impacted about 300 Maine households and stolen roughly $76,000 in benefits, according to DHHS. The department warned the number could grow as the investigation continues.
Officials said benefits are being stolen through fraudulent point-of-sale devices registered in New York, California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
“This incident appears to be the result of large-scale theft involving stolen card numbers and PINs — sometimes referred to as ‘cloning’ — rather than a localized skimming device,” Ian Yaffe, director of DHHS’s Office for Family Independence, said in a statement. “While this type of fraud and theft have occurred in other states, this is the first time we have seen it at this scale in Maine.”
The agency said it learned of the theft from affected clients and immediately contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to block known fraudulent terminals and begin an investigation. Maine’s EBT vendor, Fidelity Information Services, has also deployed its fraud investigation team.
Under federal rules, stolen benefits cannot be replaced, meaning those families could be without food assistance until September. In July, Maine issued about $29 million in SNAP benefits to approximately 173,000 residents.
The department is proactively contacting affected clients and ordering new EBT cards where possible. However, Yaffe stressed that for security reasons, cardholders must make these account changes themselves.
DHHS said it will continue working with federal partners, law enforcement, and its vendor to stop the theft and protect Maine families.
