Nyke Tellis, a Tennessee woman, called News 12 saying a Bronx market stole nearly $300 from her EBT account, leaving her with no money left for food and basic needs for the month. 

“They take every penny. They don't even leave you a dollar. You can't even go buy a bag of chips. They take everything,” she said. 

Tellis sent News 12 a screenshot of her EBT transactions. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 8:22 a.m., there was a transaction for $275.53 from Top Choice Meat Market in the Gun Hill section of the Bronx. 

News 12 found hundreds of negative Google Reviews of people also claiming fraud at Top Choice Meat Market. The reviews came from people from all over the country and dated back at least a year. 

News 12 spoke with Wilmer Infante, the owner of Top Choice Meat Market, who said he’s upset this is happening to his business, and that these scams have nothing to do with him. 

“It’s something that is not on my hand because your information is private, your PIN is private. There's no way I'm supposed to know your numbers,” Infante said. 

He told News 12 he has customers that come in with EBT cards, but he doesn’t feel comfortable asking them for identification to prove the card is theirs. 

“I have customers that come in and swipe their cards. If they know their PIN, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not going to have an interaction or an argument with them if they have a card with them,” Infante said. 

He suspects people are using stolen EBT funds in his store, but he doesn’t know why. He said he contacted the SNAP program to report the fraud allegations. 

These scams are a part of an ongoing crisis that’s affecting people nationwide. Scammers are using skimming devices on credit card machines to steal Cash Assistance (CA) and SNAP benefits, according to Jocelyn Strauber, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation (COI).

She described some qualities of skimming devices to help people detect them.

“If it's equipped with a skimming device, the keypad might look a little off, like a fake keypad. It's kind of spongy. Doesn't look like the real ones," she said.

The issue is in the swipe of the card. Strauber said having the EBT cards equipped with chips would help prevent scams.

“If they had that EMV chip technology, which is what almost every credit card now has, that makes it much more difficult for the skimming device to capture information.

And it's that capture of information and the transmittal of it that then allows the fraud to occur that drains the benefits from the cards,” she said. 

Strauber said if you’re scammed, there is not currently a reimbursement option. Federal reimbursements are only eligible if the scam occurred before December 2024.

She said the city’s Department of Investigation and the Department of Social Services (DSS), which administers SNAP and CA for NYC residents, are both pushing legislation on the state and federal level to find solutions to the crisis. 

In an effort to spread awareness about skimming in NYC, sources from DSS gave the following tips for EBT card holders to protect their benefits:

DSS and COI also want to educate people on the EBT card freeze feature, noting that the feature significantly decreases the chances of a cardholder having their benefits stolen. 

EBT card holders can freeze their cards on the EBT Edge mobile app or the website ebtedge.com

When a card is frozen, all transactions are blocked. Cardholders then can unfreeze the card, make a purchase, and refreeze it, preventing scammers from making transactions while it’s frozen. 

If someone is a victim of an EBT scam, city officials suggest reporting the card stolen and contacting law enforcement.