For a Baltimore mom with three kids, the bad news came on Sept. 2.
“I woke up, I went to the ATM, [and] they said I had insufficient funds,” said Elizabeth Baltierra.
She said within hours of her monthly Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) benefits being deposited into her account, the funds were stolen – and not from anywhere nearby.
“It said there was a withdrawal in the amount of $900 from Coconut Grove, Florida and it happened at 1:58 a.m.,” Baltierra said.
According to Baltierra, she last visited Florida in April and never used her electronic benefits (EBT) card during her stay in the Sunshine State.
A few days later, Baltierra said she received a letter from Maryland EBT informing her there was no evidence of fraudulent activity on her account.
And like fellow Marylanders who’ve become victims of compromised benefits, she learned the $900 would not be replaced or reimbursed.
“It's been rough,” she said. “Very rough. Like I said, I use that to take care of myself and my three kids. It’s been hard.”
Earlier this year, FOX45 News heard a similar story from a young Baltimore mother who also reported $1,000 in benefits stolen from an EBT card.
And these Baltimore mothers are far from alone.
At a hearing with Maryland state lawmakers last week, representatives from the Department of Human Services said as of August, 693 cases of EBT fraud were reported.
These cases of fraud include the Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) and SNAP benefits programs, which is often known as food stamps.
“Nationally there has been an increase in reports of EBT fraud over the past two years and Maryland has not been spared from this trend,” said La Sherra Ayala, Executive Director for DHS’ Family Investment Administration.
Ayala provided an update to lawmakers about the nationwide prevalence of EBT fraud and its impact in Maryland, also saying victims are not reimbursed after funds are compromised.
“Federal regulations are very clear in that federal funding cannot be used to reimburse stolen SNAP benefits and the department does not have TCA funds appropriated for this purpose,” Ayala said.
According to DHS, the monetary value of compromised benefits during the months of June, July, and August totals nearly $296,000.
In a statement to FOX45, a spokesperson for DHS says, in part:
We cannot speak for the State of Florida and its Department that oversees SNAP and TCA (EBT card) benefits. We can tell you that all states have received reports of fraud throughout the existence of the EBT program. Nationally, there have been increased reports of EBT fraud over the past two years, and Maryland has not been spared from this trend.
The Maryland Department of Human Services has been working diligently to protect recipients from EBT fraud. Our Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has been working closely with the U.S. Secret Service, USDA-OIG, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ OIG to investigate this matter. We are committed to supporting the needs of our customers, and the ongoing work of federal law enforcement to stop the perpetrators of these crimes.
DHS says work is also underway to increase security for SNAP and TCA benefits:
Conduent, a private company that manages EBT benefits, is one of two USDA-approved vendors that manage EBT for states nationwide. Our Department is working with Conduent to have the vendor implement a system change that will prevent SNAP recipients from selecting a PIN that would be easy for fraudsters to guess, as well as additional security enhancements including the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call line blocking certain phone numbers that criminals are using to check balances on stolen cards.
When a recipient reports EBT fraud, our Department immediately has the impacted EBT Card disabled and a new EBT Card reissued. Simultaneously, our Department connects victims with emergency food programs, DHS-funded emergency cash assistance on a case-by-case basis, and community resources for housing assistance, utility assistance, and other types of emergencies.
Additionally, the Department of Human Services has conducted exhaustive outreach to alert the public, especially program recipients, to this issue and how to guard against it. Our outreach material on this issue includes instructions on how to check Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sale (PoS) devices to ensure that they have not been tampered with before using them, and encourages EBT card holders to change their PINs periodically and report fraud incidents immediately upon discovery.
More information about EBT fraud and how Marylanders can protect their benefits can be found here.