More than 6,000 Minnesotans had their EBT benefits stolen between January and November, totaling more than $1.2 million dollars lost. That’s according to data from the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).

“Very frustrating,” said Ms. Shoals, a St Paul mother, who reported the food benefits for her family were stolen off her EBT card. “It’s pretty sad that somebody would even steal from the poor.”

The data provided by the state included EBT benefits for food, housing and cash assistance that were stolen from card skimming, according to DCYF.

EBT cards lack a security chip, like other debit or credit cards.

Criminals can set up a device that skims the info off the card when it’s used at a terminal, security experts say.

The states of California and Oklahoma are working on issuing new EBT cards that have security chips.

Currently, no state has EBT cards with the enhanced chip feature.

“Many of these folks don’t have another way to pay, “said Sophia Lenarz-Coy, executive director of The Food Group, a New Hope-based food bank. She said many people then need to rely on food shelves as they deal with the cumbersome process of attempting to get their stolen money back on their account.

Lenarz-Coy said more needs to be done to improve EBT card security on the state and federal level.

“I think this is an element we have to continue to invest and innovate,” she said.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS made requests this week to try and interview officials at the Department of Children, Youth and Families about the new data and efforts to prevent fraud.

Instead, they relied on a statement that reads in part, “All reports of benefit theft are investigated so stolen funds can be reimbursed as quickly as possible…DCYF is actively working on ways to prevent recipients from being the victim of this type of theft. “

“I think it requires action to keep it minimized,” said Republican Senator Jim Abeler, from Anoka, who sits on the Health and Human Services Committee. “My view is its time for the governor and the department to think this matters and resolve it, and bring us a recommendation.”

DCYF provided additional details in their statement that reads in part, “ As skimming, cloning, scamming, phishing and other similar fraudulent methods continue to evolve, the most effective way for cardholders to combat this is to take preventative action.

Cardholders should:

• Avoid simple PINs.
• Keep your PIN and card number secret.
• Change your PIN often.
• Check your EBT account regularly for unauthorized charges.
• Inspect a payment terminal before use.
• Turn on/off online transactions.
• Turn on/off out-of-state transactions.
• Freeze/unfreeze the card between transactions.”

A US Department of Agriculture spokesperson sent 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS a statement regarding EBT theft, replacement of SNAP benefits, and a key deadline.

“SNAP is a vital nutrition safety net for low-income Americans. When benefits are stolen, SNAP participants’ ability to feed their families is threatened. Only Congress can extend the replacement of stolen benefits by extending the law that provides federal reimbursement to states for ​stolen benefit replacement​. After December 20, states have the option to continue reimbursing victims of SNAP skimming using their own state funds,” the USDA Spokesperson wrote.