A mother faced with her card being declined at the supermarket shortly after she had topped it up with $400 was left with a mere 23 cents to mark her son’s birthday and Christmas celebrations.
Thieves are reportedly targeting people who receive food stamps, leaving families without money to buy groceries this holiday season.
Those receiving SNAP benefits have had hundreds of dollars taken from their accounts, resulting in them having very little to get by on until the next payment arrives in the middle of January.
Carmen Gayle shared that the Georgia Department of Human Services had credited her SNAP benefits card with $400 just before she went grocery shopping with her teenage daughter.
She was stunned when her card declined.
“I went straight into fix-it mode,” Gayle told ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
She called customer service, who told her there was less than a quarter in her account.
Gayle and her daughter left the store with no food.
“We don’t have nothing to eat and it was just embarrassing,” Gayle’s teen daughter said.
Gayle said the money was stolen two days before her son’s birthday and that she doesn’t have a car to drive to a local food pantry.
“I couldn’t do nothing,” said Gayle.
“No birthday for my son. No Christmas.”
A grandma named Alice Brown also had $700 stolen from her food stamps card.
She was planning to buy a PlayStation for her grandsons for Christmas, but now has to spend her gift money on groceries.
“I took their Christmas money that I had to get their Christmas stuff, to buy food,” Brown said.
“I couldn’t leave them in the house with no food.”
Food Stamps
Food stamps are a voucher issued by the US government to low-income communities that can be exchanged for food and products.
The SNAP program is available in all 50 states, with benefit amounts varying depending on an individual or family’s income, size, and other expenses.
DHS said the money would be returned within 60 days.
“They said 30 to 60 days, and no telling if you are going to get them back or not,” Brown said.
LOCK YOUR CARDS
DHS is warning recipients to lock their cards to prevent thieves from taking their money.
A new security feature allows users to go online or on their SNAP app and lock and unlock their cards until they want to buy something.
This stops the card from being used for fraud.
Users have 30 days to report fraud on their accounts.
Plus, SNAP recipients who have their money stolen can submit a request for replacement benefits without filing a police report.
