Gottheimer announces new federal legislation to crack down on scammers stealing vital nutrition and assistance programs
Protecting Jersey families in need against heartless scam artists, and ensuring no one goes hungry
NEW JERSEY — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari (LD-22), and New Jersey State Senator Brian Stack (LD-33) Monday 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.
“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,” Gottheimer said. “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,” Scutari said. “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.”
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.
