Organized criminal syndicates have stolen $470 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from recipients over the past year, according to data provided to ProPublica by Propel, a company that manages the mobile app for SNAP accounts. Despite the scale of electronic theft, federal law currently prohibits the reimbursement of funds lost to skimming and card cloning, leaving nearly one million households without recourse. The theft has outpaced traditional fraud committed by beneficiaries by a factor of seven, yet legislative efforts to mandate replacement of stolen benefits have stalled in Congress.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative leaders, including Vice President JD Vance and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, have focused their rhetoric on fraud committed by SNAP recipients rather than theft from them. Vice President Vance, who was named "Fraud Czar" this spring, stated, "There are people who have Lamborghinis who currently receive SNAP benefits." Secretary Rollins has frequently appeared on television and social media to allege that a significant number of recipients are abusing the system, citing images of luxury vehicles associated with benefit holders.
From this perspective, the narrative centers on the integrity of the program against intentional violations by beneficiaries. The administration’s focus remains on identifying and penalizing those who misuse benefits for non-essential items or who do not meet income requirements. This framing aligns with long-standing conservative arguments for stricter eligibility verification and work requirements, suggesting that the primary threat to the program's sustainability is recipient behavior rather than external criminal activity.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocates and victim advocates argue that the lack of federal reimbursement for electronic theft is a systemic failure that disproportionately impacts low-income families. They point to the case of Jared Chesnut, a laid-off software developer in Hoover, Alabama, who had $893 stolen in December and subsequently relied on rice and grits for the remainder of the month. Advocates contend that the current system, which treats electronic skimming similarly to lost or misused cards, places the burden of organized crime on the most vulnerable.
The perspective from this side emphasizes that the government has known how to prevent the majority of this crime but has failed to act. They highlight that victims are often told by caseworkers that benefits cannot be refunded unless lost due to a natural disaster. One victim in Ohio stated, "The only thing they said was that [my benefits] cannot be refunded unless they were lost due to a natural disaster." Another in Philadelphia noted that officials advised them to simply avoid "sketchy" locations, while a victim in Virginia was charged $2 for a replacement card after the theft.
What the Numbers Show
According to the most recent 50-state reports compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, confirmed cases of intentional program violations committed by SNAP recipients account for $64 million annually, representing approximately 0.08% of all benefits issued. In contrast, data from Propel indicates that $470 million was stolen electronically from beneficiaries in 2025. This theft affected more than 990,000 households that received food assistance last year.
The federal government has stopped tracking rates of electronic theft, making private sector data the primary source for these figures. The disparity between recipient fraud ($64 million) and external theft ($470 million) highlights that organized crime is currently the larger financial drain on the program. Specific cases, such as the "Red Bull Crew" in San Diego, demonstrate the method: in October 2022, a Romanian-based syndicate used stolen data from 174 victims to purchase $305,274.52 in energy drinks, paying with 25 cloned cards.
The Bottom Line
The current legal framework offers no mechanism for replacing SNAP benefits lost to electronic skimming, leaving victims to absorb the cost of organized crime. While the Trump administration continues to highlight recipient fraud, the data shows that external theft is the more prevalent source of financial loss. Congress has yet to pass legislation that would mandate reimbursement for stolen benefits, a step that experts say could prevent the vast majority of these losses. The issue remains unresolved as victims continue to report declined cards at checkout lines and caseworkers maintain that federal law prevents refunds for anything other than natural disasters.