More than 61,000 New Yorkers who rely on public assistance have filed claims for EBT fraud in the last six months.
This occurs when people, unknowingly, They use card readers that have been secretly installed with a device to steal users’ personal information and empty their accounts.
The city’s social services department says its office has helped recover $19 million of money that was stolen from the cards.
New legislation is being introduced at the state level that would update EBT cards with contactless payment technology to try to fix the problem.
The bill has not yet been voted on.
