“This is the Grinch that stole your benefits before the holidays,” stated David Greenfield, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty charity in describing a recent SNAP scheme. At least 22 households at the B’nai B’rith Queens Apartments in Flushing had their EBT cards drained right before the holidays. It is unclear where the residents are exactly being targeted but is believed to be the result of fraudsters placing skimming devices on car-reading machines at local grocery stores and delis. The scheme is a common one, but any fraudster who initiates this during the holidays must have a heart two sizes too small.
Replenishing stolen SNAP benefits can take as long as a month. To give the venerable B’nai B’rith victims some comfort, the Met Council on dropped off over 50 boxes filled with groceries such as canned tuna and other shelf-stabled products, along with another 50 boxes each of cleaning supplies and winter clothes. B’nai ‘B’rith building’s management is also providing education to residents to deter further theft of SNAP benefits. But deterrence doesn’t render SNAP fraud impossible.
The residents of B’nai B’rith are not the only ones. Between December 1 and December 19, 2024, the city’s Department of Social Services has received 5,543 complaints about EBT fraud, a 30% jump from last year. City Councilwoman Sandra Ung, whose district includes B’nai B’rith, has received 1,990 complaints about EBT fraud since August of 2024. “We need real action to make EBT cards more secure, so that these crimes become harder to commit,” said Ung. Until then, fraudsters will continue to exploit the gaps in the systems and more families will suffer. Three words that best describe this situation are as follows, and we quote: “Stink, stank, stunk!”
Shout out to the Met Council for coming to the rescue for these victims.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “NYC grinches steal ‘thousands’ in food stamps from senior living residents ahead of holidays” published by the New York Post on December 21, 2024.
Big Apple grinches stole “thousands of dollars” of federally-funded food stamps from a Queens senior living center’s residents just weeks before the holidays, according to a charity and the building’s staff.
B’nai B’rith Queens residents were left wondering how they could afford latke ingredients or Christmas ham after thieves sneakily filched Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits this month in a cold-hearted scheme affecting 26 households, according to the apartments’ service coordinator Davia Smith.