New York ranks number one in the nation for food stamp fraud, but a new security initiative coming next year aims to cut back on the tens of millions of dollars in government benefits stolen each year, Queens officials said on Thursday.
Starting in 2027, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance will begin rolling out new benefits cards for New Yorkers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The new cards come with chip-and-tap-enabled technology, a security feature that Queens lawmakers say will prevent scammers and hackers from electronically stealing SNAP benefits.
The most common way fraudsters steal benefits is through “skimming,” a practice in which devices at grocery checkout terminals capture card numbers and PINs, which scammers later use to siphon funds from the card…