CHICAGO – SNAP benefits meant to help feed Houston families are ending up in the hands of the wrong people and being spent a thousand miles away in the Chicago area.
The findings are a result of our KPRC 2 investigation into the crime known as ’SNAP Skimming.’
In short, SNAP skimming is when someone installs an illegal device on a credit card machine. The device then “skims” for data, like the numbers on the credit card being swiped and the pin numbers being punched in.
With this, crooks can create duplicate cards and use the money loaded onto the SNAP cards.
It’s what’s happened to dozens of Houstonians, each of whom shared their stories with 2 Helps You.
Our investigation into SNAP skimming started on April 8, with a single mom of three who brought the problem to light.
Up until last December, stolen SNAP benefits were replaced. However, federal dollars dried up, and the state nor the federal government is replacing the stolen benefits, leaving families looking for other ways to put food on the table.
As KPRC 2 has been investigating, we’ve seen trends of businesses in other states popping up on SNAP statements. Many of the businesses appear on more than one SNAP statement from different people, showing a trend of where the money is being used.
One of those businesses is Alsham Supermarket and Bakery in the Chicago suburb of Lombard, Illinois.
It’s where Lakeda Cunningham of Houston’s Northside neighborhood had her benefits stolen and used on Thursday.
“When I swiped the card and put the code in, the cashier told me that it was insufficient funds,” Cunningham told KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding. “Sure enough, it’s at Alsham Supermarket. $162.11 has been used that same day. It was a myriad of emotions.”
So, who’s behind the scheme?
The owner of Alsham Supermarket and Bakery says he’s not the suspect.
He didn’t realize anything was going on until his phone started ringing with people from other states.
“They’re living in different states, they’re living in Houston,” Ardacan Nazari said.
The SNAP card from Houstonians and other states were being used at his store, but Nazari has the receipts and the security camera video showing who was using the cards.
“I have the receipt, I have proof, it shows like swiped, and they put the pin, so it means someone was here,” Nazari said. “Then we go over the camera, we see some people, they [are] doing that. But how they store the information, we have no idea.”
He provided the transaction receipt for the purchase that wiped out Cunningham’s SNAP account.
Gage Goulding: “There it is.”
Lakeda Cunningham: “Yep and that’s the balance.”
Gage Goulding: “That’s 100% your account?”
Lakeda Cunningham: “Yeah, I didn’t fly to Lombard.”
There’s proof of that, too.
Nazari shared security camera video of who he says is the person who used Cunningham’s stolen information while making a purchase at his store.
“They’re upset and they’re mad because somebody stole their information,” Nazari said.
Here’s the tough pill to swallow for Cunningham and victims of SNAP skimming: there’s no getting the money back.
Federal dollars to replace the stolen money are gone. The government stopped issuing replacements last December.
Congressman Al Green filed a bill called the ‘SNAP SECURE Act of 2025′ earlier this week to bring back the federal funding, but there’s no timeline on when that could happen, even if it is passed.
However, the bill doesn’t stop fraud.
SNAP card skimming will continue, despite efforts from both sides of the problem.
“It’s usually a conspiracy which involves multiple people across the country or transnationally,” said Matthew Connolly, a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service in Houston.
NATIONAL ACTION: Bill filed by Pennsylvania, New York lawmakers aims to replace stolen SNAP benefits
The Secret Service is seeing a spike in fraud cases like SNAP Skimming, partly because of the lack of security in the SNAP cards.
“You are dealing with sophisticated transnational, in some cases, state-sponsored groups that have killer technology,” said Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “The force needs to be on the states to put the chip cards in.”
The chip he’s talking about is an EMV computer chip that is nearly common in every credit and debit card, but is used only used by California, which just rolled out the card in January.
“Once you do that, you’ve eliminated that type of fraud,” Talcove said.
Meanwhile, Nazari is trying to stop fraud in his store.
“We start like asking people whenever there’s no name on it,” Nazari said. “It’s just like, ‘Hey, if this is your card, please show me your ID.’”
He’s not only trying to help people, but stop the damage being done to the reputation of his business.
Victims of SNAP skimming who see their grocery store’s name on their statements are leaving negative reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp.
“Thieves bunch of thieves stealing money off from SNAP EBT. We filed the [complaint] to the authorities. You’ll be held responsible,” reads one review.
“I feel really, really bad because we’re working really, really hard to just make good reviews on the store to raise the business up,” Nazari said.
There’s only one way to stop the fraud for good: adding security elements to SNAP cards. It’s something that the State of Texas says they’re working on by adding security chips to the cards.
When will that happen? There’s no timeline
In the meantime, there’s no holding back the SNAP fraud that’s running rampant across the country, costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year.
