Addressing SNAP fraud that's harming hungry families and burdening food banks: editorial

Multimillion-dollar fraud and theft have victimized too many lower-income Ohio families and individuals who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly known as food stamps) for their food purchases. Often recipients’ first sign of trouble is at the cash register when they arrive with a full cart of groceries and are told their SNAP account is empty.

 
Increasingly sophisticated thieves, some based hundreds of miles away, are using computer programs, phishing emails, scam calls, skimmers and other means to get their hands on SNAP recipients’ electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card and pin numbers -- which allow them to help themselves to benefits unless SNAP recipients have acted first to freeze their cards or block out-of-state use. (More on how to do that below.)

 
 
The gains can be substantial. Earlier this year, in Ohio’s largest-scale prosecution of alleged SNAP theft, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Hafedh Al Gahim and his Buffalo Discount Corp. were indicted by a Cuyahoga County Grand jury on four felony counts for the alleged 2023 thefts of more than $125,000 from Ohio SNAP beneficiaries. Leading the investigation was the Ohio Investigative Unit of Ohio’s Public Safety Department.

 
 
So far, Al Gahim, who is in his early 50s, has missed two court appearances in Cleveland -- for his Feb. 3 arraignment on the first indictment and last Monday’s arraignment on a reindictment on the same felony charges of grand theft, telecommunications fraud, money laundering and illegal use of SNAP benefits. Warrants for his arrest were issued both times.

 
 
But $125,000 could be seen as but a drop in a bigger bucket.

 
 
Before federal reimbursement funds ran out when that provision in federal law wasn’t renewed, Ohio recipients, alone, were reimbursed nearly $17 million in stolen SNAP benefits from June 2023 until January 2025.

 
 
That’s per state Rep. Tristan Rader of Lakewood, citing Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) numbers.

 
 
Rader is working on a package of legislation that, among other measures, would likely seek to authorize and fund ODJFS for its estimated nearly $5 million share of adding chips to Ohio SNAP EBT cards -- an upgrade that could immediately defeat much of today’s SNAP thefts.

Rader also is working on a possible law under which Ohio could reimburse SNAP thefts until card security is upgraded. Right now, a lot of the burden of helping families victimized by SNAP theft is falling on food banks trying to make sure kids and seniors don’t go hungry.

 
 
There are, however, a number of immediate ways individuals can and should protect themselves -- and help law enforcement identify thieves into the bargain.

 
 
It starts with downloading the secure ConnectEBT APP that ODJFS has developed and that can connect directly to an individual’s official SNAP account so the APP can be used to check balances and for other purposes.

 
 
Eric Wolf, enforcement commander at the Ohio Investigative Unit that investigated the alleged Brooklyn, N.Y., SNAP theft, told our editorial board that the APP can also be used to block out-of-state use, and to lock, and then unlock, say at checkout, the user’s account.

 
 
The Mobile ConnectEBT APP can be found for download at: https://tinyurl.com/bdvka4ze.

 
 
Wolf says ODJFS also offers YouTube videos to walk beneficiaries through the steps of how to download and use the APP. See: Bing Videos

 
 
One advantage of using the APP to regularly check balances is also that SNAP beneficiaries may learn of thefts more quickly -- an advantage law enforcement could use in trying to track thieves and recover purloined funds.

 
 
For those still flummoxed about how to download and use the APP, it’s also possible help can be found at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, which now offers a one-stop Community Resource Center at 15500 South Waterloo Road in Cleveland, or call (216) 738-2067 for information. The Resource Center is open Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 8:30 am to 6 p.m., Thursdays from 8:30 am to 7 p.m. and on Fridays by appointment only from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

 
 
Protecting from SNAP fraud starts with individuals protecting themselves. That includes never giving out EBT numbers or PIN numbers over the phone or by email, and by controlling access to your own benefits through use of the ODJFS Mobile ConnectEBT APP.

 
 
And at a state and national level, it means enhancing EBT cards with chip technology or tap-to-pay technology. The level of ongoing fraud suggests such measures should become a priority for Ohio and for Congress.