COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Department of Human Services is seeing a large increase in the number of people reporting that their benefits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been taken and spent. SNAP helps people with low income buy food.
People living in southern Colorado report their benefits are being spent unknowingly in states nationwide, according to El Paso County DHS Economic Benefits Division Director Karen Logan.
The El Paso County DHS says 37 cases were reported in August, 118 In September, and 358 cases were reported in the county as of October 17, 2024.
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Colorado native Dj Tafoya, his wife, and four children are one of the hundreds of families who reported that their SNAP benefits were stolen.
“We get our food stamps every month on a certain date and before we even woke up, our stamps were gone,” Tafoya said.
Tafoya explained they started looking for solutions after discovering nearly $900 disappeared from their SNAP benefits account.
“They took it all within literally a matter of minutes,” Tafoya said. “I woke up and we had 55 cents left in our account. Then we looked up the transaction and it came out of Brooklyn and the Bronx.”
They were told they would have to wait at least three months to get their money back.
“Now we’re kind of stressing about money and food for our kids, like the last three nights, they ate ramen,” Tafoya said. “We got a 14-year-old, a 10-year-old, 12-year-old, and a 9-year-old. We all know they eat. they got bottomless pits in their stomachs.”
The Tafoya family is grateful for their friends and family members who donated enough food to fill their freezer as they await next month’s benefits.
“The kids are the most affected. we can handle it because we’re adults,” he said. “We get by but it’s just unfortunate.”
Tafoya also said he wants answers surrounding what happened.
“We don't really know what the cause is of this and how it's happening, Logan said. “That people in Colorado Springs can have their card cloned one day and it be spent across the country the next day. We’re not talking about one state either. We’re finding benefits are being spent in Illinois, Florida, California, New York. We just don't know”
As the DHS and other government agencies work to make SNAP accounts more secure, Logan says everyone should follow the advice below to prevent their benefits from being taken and used.
“If you ever believe someone has your information,” Logan said. “The first thing we tell them is to get the card replaced. We tell them to change their password often. We tell them to lock your cards. So if I’m in the middle of the grocery store, I can unlock my card do my shopping, and then lock it right as soon as I’m done. That way nobody can use the benefits that they have.”
DHS encourages families with SNAP benefits to frequently monitor their benefits app to check for any suspicious activity. If your benefits have been stolen, contact the DHS office within 30 days of the fraudulent transaction to fill out an affidavit or documents needed for reimbursement. You can find the link here or by going to the DHS in person. The DHS office is at 1675 Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs.
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