Food Assistance (SNAP) Card Skimming Scam
A fraud where criminals skim or clone food assistance benefit cards, or phish for card and PIN details, to drain a recipient's monthly food benefit balance.
Also known as: EBT card skimming, benefits card skimming
Last reviewed: 5 July 2026
Food assistance benefit cards, often loaded electronically each month, have become a target for the same card-skimming techniques long used against ordinary debit cards. Criminals install skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals or ATMs, or use small hidden cameras to capture a PIN, then clone the card's magnetic stripe to make unauthorized purchases or cash withdrawals that drain the balance before the legitimate recipient can use it.
A phishing variant of this scam involves a text or call claiming there is a problem with the recipient's benefit card and asking them to read out the card number and PIN to 'verify' the account or avoid a suspension, information that is then used to make fraudulent purchases. Because these benefits fund essential monthly food budgets for many low-income households, the loss can be severe and, depending on the jurisdiction's replacement rules, not always fully recoverable. Recipients should treat any card or PIN request received by phone or text as fraudulent and regularly check their card balance for unauthorized transactions.
Sources
- SSA OIG — Scam Alert — Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General
- Action Fraud — Cost of Living Payment Scams — Action Fraud (UK national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, now Report Fraud) — Published by Action Fraud, the service Report Fraud replaced in December 2025; the alert is no longer available online.
- MoneyHelper — Universal Credit Scams — MoneyHelper (Money and Pensions Service, UK government-backed)
- FTC — How to Avoid a Government Impersonation Scam — Federal Trade Commission