The U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture Special Investigation Unit stopped up to $43 million of stolen money or Electronic Benefits Transfer fraud by recovering 41 skimming devices in Georgia.
On Aug. 7 – 8, law enforcement visited more than 542 businesses in metro-Atlanta and Columbus to inspect 3,408 businesses and remove illegal skimming devices from ATMs, gas pumps and point-of-sale terminals.
The federal government helps feed about 42 million people through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It loads money onto debit cards that it mails to vulnerable people, but some states use lax technology that criminals abuse.
Criminals often steal EBT and other payment card numbers by installing illegal skimming devices on ATMs, gas pumps, and merchant point-of-sale terminals. Scammers skim card information from EBT cards, encode that data onto another card with a magnetic strip, and either use it or sell it on the dark web.
From 2023-2025, Georgia residents reported more than $27 million of SNAP benefits stolen by criminals, according to the USDA dashboard. The government replaced $9.9 million benefits and more than 20,700 Georgia households reported stolen benefits.
They also distributed educational materials about Electronic Benefit Transfer fraud and skimming to businesses to help them better identify the warning signs of illegal skimming devices in their point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps and ATMs.
This outreach operation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, along with the Atlanta, Columbus, Rome, City of South Fulton, Carrollton, DeKalb County, University of North Georgia, Marietta, and Kennesaw Police Departments. Sheriff’s deputies from the Fulton County, Muscogee County, Douglas County, Barrow County, Jackson County, Fayette County, and Cobb County Sheriff’s Offices, and troopers from the Georgia State Patrol also took part in the operation.
The multi-jurisdictional program may be used as a model for other areas around the country where EBT fraud and skimming is prevalent.
Law enforcement estimates that skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year. Law enforcement agencies have seen a nationwide increase in skimming particularly targeting EBT cards.
This fraud targets the nation’s most vulnerable communities. Each month, money is deposited into government assistance accounts intended to help families pay for food and other basic items.
This enables criminals who steal card information to time their fraudulent withdrawals and purchases around the monthly deposits.
Consumers can take precautions:
- Inspect ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, and other card readers. Look for anything loose, crooked, damaged, or scratched. Do not use a card reader if anything appears unusual.
- Whenever possible, use tap-to-pay technology or use debit and credit cards with chip technology.
- If using a debit card at a gas station, run it as a credit card to avoid entering a PIN number. If that is not an option, consumers should use their hand to hide their PIN to block scammers who may be using tiny pinhole cameras above the keypad area to record entries. Use ATMs in a well-lit, indoor location, which are less vulnerable targets.
- Be alert for skimming devices in tourist areas, which are popular targets.
These four states reported the most SNAP fraud. New York: 151,738 California: 85,978 Texas: 57,187 Illinois: 41,565