ProPublica: Scammers stole $470M from SNAP recipients as Congress stalls chip fix
An investigation finds organized card-skimming theft from food-stamp recipients dwarfs the recipient fraud Trump officials publicize, and a cheap fix sits unfunded.
What to know
- ProPublica finds $470 million was stolen electronically from SNAP recipients in 2025, versus only $64 million in confirmed recipient fraud.
- Trump administration officials, including VP JD Vance and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, have publicly emphasized alleged recipient fraud (citing luxury cars) despite USDA's own data showing recipients are far more often victims of theft.
- EMV microchip technology, standard on credit cards, could prevent most of the organized skimming and cloning theft, but Congress has not funded adding it to SNAP cards.
- Organized crime syndicates, including a Romania-based group dubbed the 'Red Bull Crew,' have used cloned SNAP cards to steal benefits and resell goods for years.
“Confirmed cases of intentional program violations — fraud — committed by SNAP recipients account for $64 million a year, or about 0.08% of all benefits issued annually”
ProPublica investigation, Investigative reporting · ProPublica ↗ · Oct 12
JD Vance Vice President, administration 'Fraud Czar'Brooke Rollins Agriculture SecretaryPropel Company providing SNAP balance-checking appCongress Federal legislatureProPublica Investigative newsroom (reporter Eli Hager)
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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ProPublica publishes investigation contrasting fraud claims with theft data
The outlet reports that USDA's own 50-state data put confirmed recipient fraud at $64 million a year (about 0.08% of benefits), dwarfed by the $470 million stolen from recipients, and that Congress has not funded EMV chip cards that would prevent most of that theft.
“There are people who have Lamborghinis who currently receive SNAP benefits.”
— JD Vance, Vice President, 'Fraud Czar' · source -
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NEW: Fraudsters stole $470 million last year from Americans who need help paying for food. Adopting the same microchip that credit cards have had for years would prevent most of the theft, but Congress won’t pay for it.
2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch
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"To hear the Trump administration tell it, the SNAP program is under siege by well-heeled recipients of food stamps. Vice President JD Vance, upon being named “Fraud Czar” this spring, said: “There are people who have Lamborghinis who currently receive SNAP benefits.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose agency oversees the program…
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Fraudsters stole $470 million last year from Americans who need help paying for food. Adopting the same microchip that credit cards have had for years would prevent most of the theft, but Congress won’t pay for it. New from @propublica.org:
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Vance, named 'Fraud Czar,' claims SNAP recipients own Lamborghinis — Vice President JD Vance, upon being named Fraud Czar, said benefit recipients include luxury car owners, framing SNAP fraud as a recipient problem.
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Agriculture Secretary Rollins repeats claims of mass recipient fraud — Brooke Rollins, whose agency oversees SNAP, regularly asserts on TV and social media that large numbers of recipients are scamming the system, citing luxury vehicles.
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Electronic theft from SNAP recipients hits $470 million in a year — Data supplied to ProPublica by Propel, which runs a balance-checking app for SNAP recipients, shows more than 990,000 households had benefits stolen electronically in 2025.
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Syndicate steals over $300,000 from 174 SNAP victims nationwide — From September through November 2022 the same Romania-based crew used stolen SNAP account data and PINs to buy at least $305,274.52 worth of energy drinks, according to court documents and federal investigators.
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Romanian 'Red Bull Crew' drains SNAP accounts via cloned cards — At a San Diego Smart & Final, a syndicate used 25 cloned SNAP cards loaded with stolen victim funds to buy thousands of cans of Red Bull and Monster Energy for resale, while victims in New York and Florida found their benefits drained.
What people are saying 4 voices from 2 sites · best of 9 · verbatim
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https://www. propublica.org/article/food-st amp-snap-benefits-theft-skimmers-fraud Congress could fix a lot of things. . .
- Yesterday
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Fraudsters🚨stole $470M last year from Ams who need help paying for food. Adopting the same microchip that credit cards have had for years would prevent most of the theft, but Cong won’t pay for it. Criminals🚨have been exploiting outdated EBT card # tech to steal SNAP BENEs from unsuspecting low income fams. Since Dec 2024:🚨victims of this…
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https://www. propublica.org/article/food-st amp-snap-benefits-theft-skimmers-fraud
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So much for the party of curbing waste, fraud and abuse. A new investigation by Eli Hager of @propublica.org exposes how those with the greatest needs are getting the shaft. Congress could do something about it and either cannot or will not.