BALTIMORE — Maryland families who had their federal assistance benefits stolen are seeking help from the state.
Thieves are swiping SNAP and cash assistance before cardholders have a chance to withdraw their money. When victims report this theft to the Maryland Department of Human Services, they're told their benefits will not be replaced.
"Help us, because those benefits were approved for us, and not even us as adults, but for the children,” said Katherine Abanda-Sein.
Abanda-Sein's story is similar to so many others.
"I logged into my provider's [website] to see how much in food stamps I have left, and I saw my cash benefit was withdrawn," said Abanda-Sein.
Her full allotment for August, $790, was cashed out by a criminal in Arbutus. WMAR-2 News has received reports of benefits being withdrawn as far away as Miami or Los Angeles.
"You know, for me, it hurt me. I’m a single mother of four boys. SSI, TCA that’s how I get by," said Abanda-Sein.
She needs her benefits to provide for her family, but the state is refusing to replace them.
"It’s not like the families are being left with absolutely nothing, we do have a number of resources being offered to these families," said DHS Secretary Lourdes Padilla in a recent legislative hearing.
WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii sent a survey to 100 people who contacted her after losing their benefits. She asked: "What assistance did DHS offer you after reporting the theft (rental assistance, utility bill assistance, food stamps, food pantry, etc.)?" So far, 57 people answered the survey with the same response that no help is being offered.
"If I want help, I have to be almost evicted from my house," said Abanda-Sein. "Don’t make us jump through multiple hoops to be able to get help when our benefits were stolen, we didn’t do it. These thieves out here did it."
This problem is worsening. Maryland saw a huge spike in stolen benefits in August. Reported losses jumped to $178,430 compared to $57,129 in July.
In September, there was another significant increase. Nearly $200,000 was reported stolen in just one month bringing this year’s total to $716,053, more than 7 times the reported losses for all of 2021.
DHS did not respond to Sofastaii's request for an interview with Secretary Padilla.
"We have families that are hurting and you can get them the benefits that they are eligible for that were taken away by fraud. Why aren’t you doing that?" asked Senator Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s County) in the September 20 hearing.
"I truly believe that this belongs with the law enforcement, and they will prosecute these fraudsters," Secretary Padilla responded.
But in an email to legislators following the hearing, DHS would not say if there have been any criminal prosecutions only that "law enforcement authorities are not able to release specific details of their investigations which are ongoing."
During the hearing, legislators were quick to point out that law enforcement actions do not immediately help those who have been robbed of assistance, like Abanda-Sein, whose benefits were taken the same month as her four kids’ birthdays.
"They were excited because my twins were actually turning 18 and I couldn’t do nothing for them," said Abanda-Sein. "It was tough, especially trying to explain to a 10-year-old going on 11, when are we having our birthday party and the only thing I can afford is the cake."
D.C. and California are replacing these stolen federal assistance benefits with local funds. Right now, Maryland is not.
Sofastaii contacted the governor's office about this issue. Mike Ricci, communications director for Governor Hogan, said the governor thinks that a number of actions should be taken:
- USDA should finally provide clear guidance to the states on addressing SNAP theft.
- Congress should re-examine the carveout in federal law that makes these benefits unprotected.
- The General Assembly should explore policies for reimbursement at the state level to help these families.
"I'm leaving my house in the middle of the night, right around 11:20, 11:30, to make it to the bank before 11:59 that way I can be at an ATM already typing in my pin to withdraw my money but on my way over there, calling to change my pin,” said Abanda-Sein. "I'm afraid I won't wake up one day, I forget, the alarm doesn’t go off or I don’t stay awake long enough and I go to the bank and my benefits will be taken."
Conduent, the vendor that distributes federal benefits on behalf of the state, said it will not reimburse fraud victims.
It did recently implement enhanced security features that prevents cardholders from selecting weak pins and it's blocking certain phone numbers linked to unauthorized users.
In the future, it plans to provide transaction blocking which would allow cardholders to lock their card or deny out-of-state transactions and set-up card usage alerts, but Conduent did not specify when these features would be available.
If you’re the victim of this crime, you’re encouraged to contact your local elected officials. You can find their information by clicking here. Type in your address under the "lookup" tab and you'll have the option to email all the checked legislators.
RELATED REPORTS:
- Huge spike in benefit fraud; MD families robbed by thieves in other states
- State lawmakers schedule hearing on stolen benefits & SNAP enrollment issues
- Victims, lawmakers critical of Maryland’s response to stolen benefits
- A race to the ATM: Families having to beat thieves to their own food and cash assistance
- Maryland families report $286,000 in food stamps and cash stolen by thieves
- Maryland families robbed of $170k in SNAP and cash assistance in last two months
- Families are losing food and cash assistance to thieves; state says it’s unable to replace benefits