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ATLANTA (InvestigateTV) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suspects taxpayer dollars stolen from government food assistance accounts are severely underreported, estimating the real number reaches about $12 billion annually. Our investigators spoke with the USDA’s lead investigator for federal food assistance fraud in a rare sit-down interview. “They’re taking it to the next level every day,” said Mark Haskins, branch chief of the special investigations unit for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Haskins said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud has been increasing, but hit all-time highs since January. “It could be as high as $12 billion a year,” Haskins said. Reporting discrepancies reveal scope of problem Our investigators have been following the numbers for years and found a big discrepancy in SNAP fraud reporting to the USDA. At the beginning of 2025, states had reported about $350 million in stolen SNAP benefits for 2024. As of August, the 2024 number dropped about $100 million due to a change in dollars reported by Tennessee. For the first quarter of 2025, states reported $136 million stolen in taxpayer dollars through the SNAP program. Georgia leads the country with nearly $23 million gone. Haskins said USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins is not taking the statistics that have been reported as “gospel.” Multi-agency operation targets skimming devices As part of the USDA’s National Farm Security Action Plan, investigators joined the U.S. Secret Service to canvass stores in cities across the country, looking for skimming devices. In a two-day operation in metro Atlanta and Columbus, agents confiscated dozens of skimming machines from grocery stores and gas stations. While some criminals behind these skimming operations are local, the Secret Service said most are part of transnational crime groups. “The global economy has become more digital over the years, kind of exponentially,” a Secret Service deputy special agent in charge for the Atlanta field office said. “This has actually allowed transnational organized criminal groups to work easily across borders.” Sophisticated fraud methods emerge “They don’t sit around and wait for us to catch up with them,” Haskins said. “Whether it’s brute force attacks, whether it’s cyber attacks, they’re thinking of how they’re going to steal from us tomorrow.” Our investigators discovered trends of fraudulent transactions in Atlanta linking to stores in Pennsylvania that aren’t approved to accept electronic benefits transfer cards. Store employees said they don’t accept them and weren’t even open at the time of the transactions. The USDA confirmed it is finding more instances of cyber hacks on stores’ point-of-sale systems, making it extremely difficult to find the people behind them and stop them. Brute force attacks are also more common as all EBT cards start with the same numbers in each state and require a four-digit PIN. Haskins said software allows criminals to guess a four-digit PIN in one second. The USDA is also seeing synthetic IDs “rising at an alarming rate,” Haskins said. Synthetic IDs are fake identification numbers that allow cyber criminals into government programs. “There could be people in any program — Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP — that don’t exist... people whose identification that they bought or sold or stole, and they’re creating synthetic IDs,” Haskins said. Technology solutions face challenges While the USDA has suggested states move to chip technology for EBT cards in the past, they have not offered to fully fund it, and they said chips aren’t skim-proof either. “We have to find a way to address this,” Haskins said, adding that they are working with private sector businesses on ideas for EBT cards in the future. On July 28, hackers hit a SNAP call center company in a cyberattack. Georgia’s Department of Human Services (DHS) said it noticed an issue and flagged the company. DHS did not confirm if hackers successfully stole funds, but later said, “A specific group of EBT cardholders will have their cards locked prior to their monthly benefit distribution due to identified activities occurring through the IVR during the initial attack.” Georgia reports dramatic increase in fraud Our investigators also found a drastic jump in SNAP fraud numbers reported from Georgia DHS to the USDA. For 2024, DHS reported about $4.4 million stolen. For the first quarter of 2025, the state reported nearly $23 million stolen. When asked about the discrepancy, a DHS spokesperson said the 2024 number is “verified.” DHS encourages all EBT cardholders to download the ConnectEBT app and lock their EBT card between purchases. The app allows users to select the “lock my card everywhere” function to deny all in-state, out-of-state and online transactions. EBT cardholders who have trouble accessing the app can log in to their account via the ConnectEBT website and can lock or unlock their cards, reset their password and register for an account. Here are the top states reporting stolen SNAP benefits to the USDA in 2025’s first quarter: Georgia – $22,877,392 New York – $16,180,073 California – $14,475,573 Alabama – $10,683,865.98 Ohio – $10,567,289 Oklahoma – $9,318,793 Texas – $7,224,427.98 Virginia – $5,328,136 Illinois – $4,801,847.74 Florida – $4,461,579.24 (USDA SNAP Replacement of Stolen Benefits Dashboard) How to protect yourself Inspect the payment terminal to make sure it hasn’t been tampered with. If it is loose, crooked, damaged, or doesn’t match those of nearby terminals, don’t use it. Also, if the keypad feels thick or the numbers are hard to press, that may indicate the presence of a skimmer. If possible, tap your card instead of swiping or inserting it at the POS terminal. Cover the keyboard when entering your PIN number. If you’re concerned about skimmers at the gas pump, pay inside rather than at the pump. Consider paying cash or using a mobile wallet, such as Google Pay or Apple Pay, instead of swiping your card. Monitor your credit card and bank accounts regularly to check for unauthorized charges. Sign up for text alerts from your bank or credit union, so you will be notified of suspicious transactions or large withdrawals or purchases. But be careful: scammers sometimes impersonate an agent from a well-known financial institution. If you do receive a notification that purports to be from your bank or credit union, do not click on any links, call a number you have been texted, or give out any sensitive information to someone who calls you out of the blue; instead, contact your bank directly via a verified phone number. Watch more videos on this investigation by clicking here.
