Red Hook Residents See Rash of Stolen Food Stamps, As Reimbursement Funds Expire

A provision to extend the federal refund program for victims of SNAP theft was tucked into a massive Congressional spending bill that failed to pass, leaving future reimbursements uncertain. “They took every penny,” said Pinkie Grier, a great grandmother in Red Hook who had her benefits drained earlier this month.

Editor’s note: This story was updated since originally published to reflect the outcomes of Congress’ final spending bill.

Earlier this month, Pinkie Grier went to the grocery store to stock up on bottled water. She’d been recovering from an illness, and her doctor told her to hydrate—and she prefers not to drink the tap water in her apartment at the Red Hook Houses, where she says the faucets sometimes run brown when she first turns them on.

“I never in my life had this to happen to me: When I get up to the cashier, the lady said, ‘Declined.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean, declined?’ And she said, ‘You don’t have nothing on your card,'” the Brooklyn senior told City Limits.

Grier was dismayed to discover that the funds in her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) account, also known as food stamps, had been drained, with purchases made at a deli in upper Manhattan she’s never been to. She had more than $300 on her card previously, she said, including funds leftover from last month’s allotment.

“They took every penny,” she said. “I just checked my balance again—nothing on it but 24 cents.”

The theft is part of a nationwide trend of stolen public benefits: the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards used by the federal government are vulnerable to “skimming,” in which thieves install hidden devices on card readers to capture account data and PINs.

In Red Hook alone, dozens of residents have reported incidents of EBT fraud over the last two weeks, according to workers at the Red Hook Initiative. The community-based organization has been helping locals, including Grier, file reimbursement claims with the city’s Human Resources Administration to recover some of the lost funds.

“We started a spreadsheet because so far there’s been 47 people that have been schemed from this. They’ll go use their card somewhere and then they’ll come out and tell them, you have no benefits,” said Betty Bernhart, a community building outreach worker with the group.

“A lot of people who are like, ‘I have no food in my house and I have no benefits because it was stolen,'” added Catherine McBride, RHI’s senior director of community development. “People were crying. People are really upset. It’s really intense. That’s a form of food for your family.”

Since late 2022, victims of SNAP fraud have been able to submit reimbursement claims to recover all or some of their stolen benefits. But the federal legislation that authorized those reimbursements expired on Friday, Dec. 20.

A provision to extend the refund program through 2028 was tucked into a massive Congressional spending bill intended to fund and keep the federal government operating through March. But it hit a roadblock this week after Elon Musk, the billionaire appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as an advisor on efficiency, slammed the spending plan on social media and urged Republicans against it, effectively killing the deal and setting the stage for a potential government shutdown. While lawmakers managed to avoid that by passing a significantly scaled back spending bill Saturday, it did not include an extension of the benefit theft protections.

“Dems agreed to a bipartisan funding deal helping first responders, families & seniors. When Pres Elon told his puppet to kill it, Trump did as he was told and Rs fell in line,” New York Congressman Dan Goldman, among those pushing to renew the SNAP reimbursement funds, said in a social media post Thursday. “Working Americans will now suffer.”

In an interview with City Limits earlier this week, Goldman—whose district includes Red Hook—described New York as “the center of SNAP fraud.”

“New York State has the highest rate for stolen SNAP benefits in the country. New York City spent $28 million on SNAP fraud refunds last year,” the lawmaker said. “It’s the difference between putting food on the table and not having food on the table. It’s a massive, massive, serious issue.”

Beyond the Dec. 20 reimbursement deadline, he said, the goal is to better fortify the program against fraud moving forward. That includes overhauling EBT cards to include security chips, which are now a feature of most debit and credit cards but which the government cards still lack.

“That is a reflection of an antiquated IT system throughout the federal government that is long overdue for an investment to bring it up to current standards, which ultimately will make the government and government bureaucracy streamlined, far more efficient, and will save money,” Goldman said. “But it is a significant upfront cost that Republicans have been unwilling to invest in.”

For its part, the city’s Human Resources Administration, which administers SNAP locally, says it’s been working with community organizations to get the word out about potential fraud, as well as producing flyers and videos on prevention measures.

“It definitely continues to be a problem that’s not going away, and it’s unfortunate that these bad actors are targeting the most vulnerable of people,” said Jill Berry, the first deputy commissioner at the Department of Social Services, which includes HRA. “Our clients have to remain really vigilant.”

That means regularly monitoring their transaction history for suspicious purchases and frequently changing the PIN for their EBT cards. Users who suspect fraud should lock their cards immediately, which will prevent any additional transactions from happening, and report their card stolen by calling HRA’s Fraud Unit at 718-557-1399. Beneficiaries can request a new EBT card and change their PINs by calling the EBT Helpline at 1-888-328-6399.

Fraud victims can also continue to submit reimbursement claims after the Dec. 20 deadline if the theft took place before then (New Yorkers will still be able to submit claims for stolen Cash Assistance benefits, which are not impacted by Friday’s deadline).

To file for reimbursement, they’ll need to access their transaction history by calling the EBT Helpline or visiting www.ebtEDGE.com, then submitting a claim by mail or online (the online option is the fastest). They’ll need to report the date, location, and amount of each fraudulent transaction for their submission. More detailed instructions on completing a benefit replacement form can be found here.

“It’s about a 30 day process until we can verify that those are the correct amounts, and individuals will see the benefits back on their card,” Berry said.

Reimbursement will cover either the total amount of the benefits stolen, or an amount equal to double their most recent monthly SNAP benefit issued prior to the theft, whichever is less.

Grier filed her claim, and is waiting to see when her benefits will be refunded. In the meantime, the great grandmother said she’ll rely on family who will be visiting for the holidays to help her cover groceries. “My baby brother says he’s gonna get everything we need,” she said.

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