RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces New Federal Legislation to Crack Down on Scammers Stealing Vital Nutrition & Assistance Programs 

Above: Gottheimer, Scutari, Stack announce new federal action to crack down on benefits scams and help Jersey families in need.

ELIZABETH, NJ — Today, July 22, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari (LD-22), and Union City Mayor and New Jersey State Senator Brian Stack (LD-33) announced new federal legislation, the Stop Scammers, Card Abuse, and Malicious Skimming Act or Stop SCAMS Act. This legislation, modeled after a bill that Senators Scutari and Stack introduced in the New Jersey State Senate, will require states to inform SNAP, WIC, and TANF benefit recipients about the risks of card skimming and other scams and address security issues inherent to EBT cards, namely the lack of an embedded chip.

Card skimming has become an epidemic. The FBI estimates that skimmers, which are covertly installed on top of payment terminals and ATMs, cost American consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion a year. Scammers have targeted EBT cards, which service SNAP, WIC, and TANF benefits, because they lack an embedded chip, making it easier to steal their card data. Between October 2022 and February 2024, New Jersey has reimbursed more than $2.8 million in benefits to more than 6,200 victims of skimming.

Video of Gottheimer’s announcement can be found here.

“Today, in partnership with some of our incredible state leaders, I’m proud to announce new federal action we’re taking to stop scams and help protect Jersey families who rely on these vital assistance programs. This builds on the path-breaking legislative leadership of Senators Scutari and Stack,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “It’s heartless scam artists and fraudsters, who are willing to stick it to hungry children and families, just to make a buck for themselves. It’s pathetic and shameless. At the end of the day, food security shouldn’t be a partisan issue because hunger doesn’t discriminate. I won’t stop fighting in Congress until we end food insecurity here in the Garden State. In addition to the Stop SCAMS Act, I’m working in Washington to strengthen our food assistance programs and to ensure every child can get free breakfast and lunch in school, so they’re equipped to succeed.”

Food Insecurity and Benefits Programs in New Jersey

• Nearly ten percent of New Jersey’s population is food insecure. That includes nearly 200,000 Jersey kids — including 17,500 in Union County and almost 40,000 in Bergen, Sussex, and Passaic Counties. 
• More than 830,000 people in Jersey rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 
• 160,000 moms, infants, and children in Jersey are enrolled in the supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC. 
• And more than 11,000 families in the staet rely on the Work First New Jersey cash assistance program to cover essentials like childcare, housing, and job readiness, which is partially funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program.

The STOP Scams Act will: 

• Require state agencies to inform SNAP, WIC, and TANF recipients of the risk of card skimming and their opportunities for recourse if their benefits are stolen.
• Require the Secretary of Agriculture to issue cybersecurity and digital regulations to states to help solve EBT’s technological vulnerabilities. The legislation calls for every state, including Jersey, to transition to more secure chip enabled cards within five years.

“In Union County alone, there were over 2,600 incidents of fraud across the county and cost their recipients over $1.1 million. Union County is not alone in this. That’s why I want to thank Senator Brian Stack of Hudson County, who I co-primed legislation with to tackle this problem head-on. I’m also honored to be here with our victims and also more particularly, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who’s helping to head up and work on this continuing problem at the federal level,” said New Jersey State Senate President Nick Scutari (LD-22). “What we see here is a continuing fraudulent practice that is going on now at the federal benefits level. People have seen this with the credit cards, anything digital is apt for stealing. So we need to be sure that we’re more vigilant at the governmental level.”

“I see the need for food and the insecurity for food that we have in New Jersey. It’s something that shouldn’t happen in this state or in America, considering the resources we have in this country. But, to have some of these benefits of the most vulnerable stolen — the story that we just heard here — is heartbreaking,” said Union City Mayor and New Jersey State Senator Brian Stack (LD-33) Hopefully this legislation that Congressman Gottheimer has now introduced in Congress will be a tremendous benefit to all the people, not only in New Jersey but across the country. And, I thank the Congessman, I thank the Senate President for their leadership.”

“Thank you, Congressman Gottheimer, for your attention to this crucial issue, and thank you to Senate President Scutari and Mayor Stack for your leadership on this vital legislation,” said Union County Commissioner Chairwoman Kimberly Palmieri Mouded. “In Union County, we have seen firsthand the devastating impact that welfare scams have had on our residents. These fraudulent activities undermine trust in our social services system and divert essential resources from those who truly need them. Our most vulnerable populations — seniors, low-income families, and individuals with disabilities — are particularly affected, often left with no support to rely on for everyday essentials.”

“I’m pleased and excited that Senator Scutari, Senator and Mayor Stack, and Congressman Gottheimer have come together to address the extremely important issue on behalf of the community that I represent,” said Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage. “This legislation helps address some of those answers, helps fight, and helps get back some of the people’s benefits. I applaud Congressman Gottheimer for introducing it in the halls of Congress, Senator Scutari, our Senate President, and Senator/Mayor Brian Stack for their work as well.”

Gottheimer was joined by New Jersey State Senate President Nick Scutari (LD-22), Union City Mayor/New Jersey State Senator Brian Stack (LD-33), Union County Commissioner Chairwoman Kimberly Palmieri Mouded, Union County Commissioner Vice Chairwoman Lourdes Leon, Union County Commissioners Sergio Granados, Joseph Bodek, Jane Kowalski, Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage, and Tiffany Edwards, a victim of a card skimming scam.

Below: Gottheimer, Scutari, Stack, Bollwage, and Commissioners Palmieri-Mouded, Leon, Granados, Bodek, and Kowalski, announce new federal action to crack down on benefits scams and help Jersey families in need.

Below: Mayor Christian Bollwage joins Congressman Gottheimer and state and local leadership to announce new federal action to crack down on benefits scams and help Jersey families in need.

Below: Tiffany Edwards, a victim of a card skimming scam, highlights her experience with recovering benefits.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good morning, everyone! It’s a huge honor to join you all today here in Elizabeth, at the Union County Division of Social Services – just a stone’s throw from my home county. And I don’t mean Hudson, though County Executive Guy and Mayor Stack would tell you that I’ve now adopted it as a second home. 

I’d argue that I’m also partial to Union County and Elizabeth, where I’m a huge fan of one of the greatest mayors in our state, hands down. You could have a pretty impressive mayor’s cage match between Stack and Bollwage. Hudson and Union have a formidable line up, with your phenomenal commissioners, and, it goes without saying, another dear friend, and our unbelievable Senate President and County Party Chair, the great Nick Scutari. If you could boil Nick’s leadership down to two words – collegiality and competence – and I know my Senators in Bergen and Passaic, not to mention on the other side of the aisle, are all huge fans. This is a team that delivers for families who need help.

Speaking of delivering results for families…the people who work in this building, with the support of the senator, mayors, and commissioners, do so much to serve so many people across Union County — from helping parents access affordable childcare to helping elderly residents cool down in the middle of the heat. They also administer critical assistance programs like SNAP, WIC, and Work First New Jersey, which includes TANF. 

That’s why, today, in partnership with some of our incredible state leaders, I’m proud to announce new federal action we’re taking to stop scams and help protect Jersey families who rely on these vital assistance programs. This builds on the path-breaking legislative leadership of Senators Scutari and Stack. 

We are blessed to live in the greatest state of the greatest country in the world, but we cannot forget just how many people are in need right here in our backyard. As a father of two, it truly hurts my heart to imagine families, and especially children, in our state struggling to make ends meet and going hungry. That’s especially true during summer, when lots of parents can’t rely on free and reduced lunch programs at local schools to help feed their children. We’re also near the end of the month, which means that folks are having to make do with what’s left of their benefits. A few dollars can mean the difference between buying vegetables or putting them back on the shelf.

According to Feeding America, more than forty-four million people in the U.S. face hunger, including one in five children. More than a quarter of Americans say they’re skipping meals because they simply can’t afford their grocery bill. Here in Jersey, nearly ten percent of our state’s population is food insecure. That, unfortunately, includes nearly 200,000 Jersey kids — including 17,500 right here in Union County and nearly forty thousand combined in the counties I represent: Bergen, Sussex, and Passaic. Too many of our neighbors will go to bed tonight hungry.

Food insecurity is a crisis, plain and simple, with wide-ranging consequences. Our children are like rockets. If they don’t get enough fuel, they won’t be able to soar in and out of school. Hungry children perform worse on math and reading tests and are more likely to be absent from school. Food-insecure families pay $2,500 more a year for healthcare than families with enough to eat. And these statistics just scratch the surface: food insecurity is a public safety issue. Studies have shown that when we address hunger, violent crime drops. By making sure everyone has enough to eat, we can make our state safer, healthier, and stronger. 

For the past several decades, we’ve relied on an alphabet soup’s worth of vital programs to address food insecurity and poverty here in our state and country. More than 830,000 people in Jersey and forty-one million people nationally rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — to pay for groceries. 6.7 million moms, infants, and children across the country, including more than 160,000 in Jersey, are enrolled in the supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC. And more than 11,000 families here in Jersey rely on the Work First New Jersey cash assistance program to cover essentials like childcare, housing, and job readiness, which is partially funded by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program.

During my time in Congress, I’ve had the chance to visit schools, food kitchens, and food banks across our state and see first-hand how these programs change lives. I always have and always will fight to strengthen them, especially in the face of ultra-right extremists in Congress who are dead set on cutting support and are willing to let families go hungry. But it’s not just the ultra right. It’s also heartless scam artists and fraudsters, who are willing to stick it to hungry children and families, just to make a buck for themselves. It’s pathetic and shameless. 

If you’ve spent some time watching the news or videos on YouTube or Instagram, you’ve probably seen footage of a scammer installing a card skimmer at a grocery store, Target, or Walmart. These devices often covertly sit on top of a payment terminal at the checkout line or an ATM and allow fraudsters to collect, and ultimately, use your EBT cards that families on SNAP, WIC, or TANF use to get food or other essentials for their families. The FBI estimates that skimming costs American consumers and financial institutions more than a billion dollars each year. 

Since 2021, fraudsters across the country have targeted these EBT cards that families rely upon because they don’t have a chip inside — making them less secure. Criminals store EBT card numbers they get from those skimmers, and then drain people’s accounts right after benefits hit people’s accounts, often by bulk purchasing items like baby formula and drinks that sell well on the black market.

These criminals are the lowest of the low, stealing from people who are truly in need. Unfortunately, these scammers are showing no signs of stopping. Recently, in Hudson County, more than 240 recipients had their benefits stolen in just a week. This has to change.

In December 2022, Congress tried to address the skimming epidemic by allowing for the reimbursement of stolen SNAP and TANF benefits. New Jersey has since followed suit: between October 2022 and February 2024, our state has reimbursed more than $2.8 million in benefits to more than 6,200 victims of skimming. That’s costly to families, and to our state. 

But, reimbursement is reactive and often inadequate. Families can’t put off their hunger for ten to fourteen business days as they wait for their fraud claim to be resolved. 

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. As I mentioned, our phenomenal leaders here in New Jersey: Senate President Nick Scutari, and Mayor Brian Stack have introduced a new bill in the New Jersey State Legislature to close up this skimming-sized hole in our social safety net. Their legislation will require our state agencies to inform benefit recipients about the risks of skimming, establish a claims process to resolve benefits theft, and most importantly, address skimming vulnerabilities in the EBT card like the missing chip.

The Senators are ensuring that Jersey leads the country in protecting those in need. When I heard about their legislation, I wanted to make sure we could scale this proposal across the nation. Every state is facing real challenges in addressing hunger benefits scams, and we must work together to tackle this issue head on. 

That’s why I’m excited to announce that, following their lead, I’ll be introducing in Congress the Stop Scammers, Card Abuse, and Malicious Skimming Act, or Stop SCAMS Act for short. The Stop SCAMS Act does two critical things, in the same vein as the legislation here in Trenton. First, it requires state agencies to inform SNAP, WIC, and TANF recipients of the risk of card skimming and their opportunities for recourse if their benefits are stolen. Second, it requires the Secretary of Agriculture — who manages our country’s nutrition programs — to issue cybersecurity and digital regulations to states to help solve EBT’s technological vulnerabilities. Within five years, we want every state, including Jersey, to transition to more secure chip enabled cards.

As ever, I will be working around the clock — and across the aisle — to get the federal Stop SCAMS Act to the President’s desk and signed into law. This bill is a commonsense measure to strengthen our social safety net and crack down on fraud. If we can patch up the holes in our social safety net that lead to benefits reimbursement, we can help families and lower the cost of these nutrition programs and save taxpayers’ money. At the end of the day, food security shouldn’t be a partisan issue because hunger doesn’t discriminate.

I won’t stop fighting in Congress until we end food insecurity here in the Garden State. In addition to the Stop SCAMS Act, I’m working in Washington to strengthen our food assistance programs and to ensure every child can get free breakfast and lunch in school, so they’re equipped to succeed. 

We should count ourselves lucky to have leaders like Senator Scutari and Mayor Stack, along with the Mayor and Commissioners, who want to make a real difference in the lives of everyday Jersey families. I will continue working with them and our colleagues in both Trenton and Washington to deliver for Jersey — on issues ranging from nutrition to affordability.

By working together, here in the greatest country in the world, I know that our best days will always be ahead of us. 

Thank you. May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

###