EBT skimming: how thieves drain SNAP benefits — and why the stolen money may not come back
Criminals copy EBT cards at store card readers and phish PINs by text, then empty SNAP benefits the moment they load. Here is how the theft works, the protection that holds, and the rule that changed: federal replacement of stolen benefits has ended.
If most of the scams we write about target people who can survive a bad month, this one is the opposite. EBT skimming steals directly from the SNAP (food assistance) benefits of families living on a fixed amount — and it often empties the account within minutes of the monthly deposit. There is no overdraft, no cushion, and as of late 2024, frequently no way to get the money back. That combination is why we are treating it as a high-severity threat.
What EBT skimming is
EBT cards — the cards that carry SNAP food benefits and, in many states, cash assistance — work much like debit cards, with a card number and a PIN. That is exactly what thieves are after. The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service describes the core method bluntly: criminals use “card skimming”, placing a device on a retailer’s card-swiping machine to copy your EBT card information. These skimmers can be attached in less than a minute, and they are built to look like a normal part of the checkout terminal — an overlay on the card slot or PIN pad that is “easy to place and hard to spot.”
The skimmer copies your card number when you swipe and captures your PIN when you type it. With both, a thief can clone your card or shop online and drain the balance.
The other route: a text instead of a device
Not every theft needs hardware. USDA also warns of criminals “using phony text messages to obtain EBT card numbers and PINs” — a smishing attack aimed squarely at benefit recipients. The text might claim your card is locked, your account needs to be “reactivated”, or your benefits are at risk, with a link to a fake login page. Type your card number and PIN into it and you have handed over everything a skimmer would have stolen. (This is the same machinery as the unpaid-toll smishing text we took apart — only the costume changes.) The rule that defeats it is absolute: a real SNAP office will never ask for your card number or PIN by text, email, call, or link.
The timing trick
Skimming theft is often invisible until it is too late, because thieves wait for money to steal. Stolen card data is used the moment benefits load for the month — sometimes the same hour — frequently on out-of-state or online purchases. The first sign many families get is a zero balance at the grocery checkout on a day they know they should have benefits. That is why monitoring your balance, and changing your PIN right before each deposit, matters so much: it shrinks the window in which a copied PIN is still good.
The part that changed — and why prevention is everything now
For a while, victims had a backstop. A temporary federal program created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 reimbursed SNAP benefits stolen through skimming and cloning. That authority ended on December 20, 2024. Per USDA, benefits stolen on or after December 21, 2024 are not eligible for replacement using federal funds.
Some states have, in recent years, stepped in with their own money — California and Maryland, for example — but there is no national guarantee, and state rules vary and change. The practical takeaway is stark: for most people, stolen benefits may simply be gone. Until federal replacement returns, the only reliable protection is keeping the theft from happening in the first place.
How to protect your benefits
The free moves are in the defense box, and they all point one way — Lock the Front Door on your own card:
- Cover the keypad with your free hand every single time you enter your PIN, in any store. A skimmer can copy your card, but a PIN it never sees is useless.
- Change your PIN often, and especially right before benefits load. USDA recommends changing your PIN if you suspect theft; doing it on a schedule, just before each deposit, means a PIN copied last month is already dead.
- Look at the reader before you swipe. Overlays are designed to blend in but are often bulkier than the real machine, or sit loose. If anything looks added on, use a different lane or store.
- Use your state’s card controls. Many state EBT apps and websites now let you lock your card between shopping trips, block out-of-state transactions, or disable online use. Turn those on, and check your balance and history regularly.
If it has already happened
Move fast — this is a Freeze & Report situation. Change your PIN immediately; USDA says this stops the thief from making new purchases with the copied number. Then contact your local SNAP office to report the theft, review your transaction history, and ask whether your state offers any replacement. Keep records of the unauthorized charges. For more, see our defense moves and the 60-second quiz.
- A device hidden on a store card reader, or a text or call claiming to be "EBT support", captures your card number and PIN.
- Benefits disappear within minutes of your monthly deposit — often to out-of-state or online purchases you never made.
- Anyone asks for your EBT card number or PIN by phone, text, email, or a link. A real SNAP office never does.
- Treat your EBT PIN like a bank PIN: cover the keypad with your hand every time you enter it, and never share it with anyone outside your household.
- Change your PIN often — and especially right before your benefits load each month — so a copied PIN goes stale before thieves can use it.
- Inspect the card reader before you swipe. Skimmer overlays are made to look normal but are often bulkier than the real machine; if anything looks loose or added on, do not use it.
- If your state's EBT app or site lets you lock your card, block out-of-state transactions, or turn off online use, switch those on. Check your balance and history regularly.
Most scams we cover steal from people who can absorb a bad month. This one doesn't. It empties the grocery money of families already living on a fixed benefit — and because the theft usually lands the same hour the benefits load, the first sign is an empty balance at the checkout. What makes me angriest is the timing of the rule change: just as skimming exploded, the federal safety net that put stolen benefits back got switched off at the end of 2024. So until that changes, prevention isn't one option among several — it's the whole game. The single habit I'd hand anyone on SNAP: change your PIN right before your benefits land, and cup your hand over the keypad like it's an ATM. Because to a thief, it is one.
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Frequently asked
My benefits were stolen. Can I get them back?
This is the part that changed, and it matters. A temporary federal program created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 reimbursed SNAP benefits stolen through skimming and cloning — but that authority ended on December 20, 2024. Benefits stolen on or after December 21, 2024 are not eligible for replacement using federal funds. Some states (for example, California and Maryland) have chosen to replace stolen benefits using their own state funds, but there is no national guarantee. Contact your local SNAP office right away to report the theft and ask what, if anything, your state offers.
How did they get my PIN if I never told anyone?
Two main ways. A skimmer hidden on a store card reader copies your card number as you swipe and captures your PIN as you type it on the keypad — USDA notes criminals can attach a skimmer in under a minute and disguise it as part of the machine. Separately, USDA warns of "phony text messages" that trick people into handing over their EBT card number and PIN. Either way, no one had to ask you directly. Covering the keypad and never entering your details into a text link closes both doors.
I think my benefits are being stolen right now. What do I do first?
Change your PIN immediately — USDA says this stops the thief from making any new purchases with the number they copied. Then contact your local SNAP office to report the theft and check your transaction history for the unauthorized charges. Going forward, change your PIN again right before each new deposit, and turn on any card-locking or out-of-state-blocking options your state provides.