EXCLUSIVE: Delaware’s food stamps stolen just before Christmas

DOVER, Del. – In the days leading up to Christmas, a number of Delaware residents went to swipe their food stamp cards only to find their balances wiped and stolen in a fraud scheme sweeping the country.

WMDT News received word this week that several people had their food stamp balances depleted before the holiday. As those individuals investigated and contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS), it was learned that the transactions occurred out of state and were the result of fraud.

One of the cases we learned about involved a Dover man who had more than $200 in benefits stolen from his card with a transaction related to a store in New York.

WMDT’s Rob Petree did an exclusive interview with Social Services today to get some answers.

“It seems as soon as the benefits are loaded onto the card, maybe at midnight, then at 12:01 a.m., they’re taken off the card,” explained Crystal Marione, senior social service administrator at DHSS. .

Fraud could be the result of skimming, phishing or even text message scams. State officials aren’t sure and are still working with the federal government to investigate and replace the stolen benefits.

“Benefits are stolen electronically due to fraud, while customers may still have the card in their possession, whether it’s skimming or phishing, they’re becoming very skilled with their fraudulent schemes,” Marion said. “Delaware Health and Social Services will not call, text or email a client and say ‘you need to give us your card number or PIN.’

DHSS is now urging anyone receiving food stamps to remain vigilant and consider one of several steps to help prevent fraud, including an online feature where benefit recipients can lock their cards when not in use.

“You can block your card,” Marion said. “You can lock it until you’re at the register ready to use it, then unlock it. So you can use the card and block it again, or you can set it to block after 30 minutes, because some people can forget to reset it themselves.”

Anyone whose food stamps have been stolen can contact DHSS to get those benefits replaced.

“We process them as quickly as possible,” Marion said. “If the form is completed in full, all the transactions are identified, it goes to our Audit and Recovery Unit, they do their part and check the information and everything, and it could be in as little as 10 days.”

However, if it happens more than twice, unfortunately, Marion tells us, DHSS will not be able to replace the benefits.

“The federal government funds these replacement benefits, so they only authorize us to replace two months of benefits,” Marion said. “So if you’ve already had your benefits stolen and you’ve already replaced two months worth, then that would make it, you know, we wouldn’t be able to replace it, the federal funds aren’t available for that.”

Delawareans who receive food stamps can block their cards by visiting: connectebt.com – and for those who need to report fraud or speak to the state, they can find a full list of service centers by visiting: dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dss/ofclocations