HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico County mother discovered her SNAP benefits were stolen through unauthorized transactions, leaving her struggling to feed her family, as a benefit replacement program no longer exists.
Toni Hall was shocked when she tried to use her SNAP benefits at the grocery store last week and discovered her funds had been drained.
"It's no way... I'm like, it's no way," Hall said. "I tried to use my benefits and it was like 'insufficient funds,' and I was like, no, I know I have over $500 on my card."
The $500 was stolen through unauthorized transactions at stores she's never visited or even heard of.
Hall suspects her EBT card information may have been compromised through an online order she placed at Walmart a few days prior. Amid reports of benefit theft, social services leaders have been warning customers against placing online orders.
"Called social services. I just told her that I think they've been hacked. She looked, she said your benefits have been stolen, but it's nothing we can do about it," Hall said.
The news was devastating for the mother, who is now concerned about how she'll feed her family without this crucial assistance.
"As I'm trying to build and get somewhere where I don't need [SNAP benefits], they are extremely vital. They really are," Hall said. "I'm very appreciative of them, because I don't know what I'd be doing trying to pay rent, car insurance, and purchasing food for three children."
Widespread Theft
Benefit theft and EBT card scams have affected people across the country and Virginia.
Since July 2023, more than 20,000 Virginians have claimed more than $10 million in stolen food stamps.
The federal government used to replace these benefits, but Congress ended the reimbursement program in December 2024. Virginia won't be implementing its own replacement program as it focuses on prevention and security measures.
“Does the state have any type of plan on a replacement program at the state level?” reporter Tyler Layne asked Virginia Social Services Commissioner James Williams in an interview earlier this month.
"No. There's no plan today, and there wasn't one that came out of the General Assembly session," Williams said.
That leaves localities to decide how they want to address the issue.
"For some reason, where I'm located in the county, there's not a lot of assistance available," Hall said.
Solutions Proposed
In Richmond, City Council member Stephanie Lynch has proposed earmarking money for SNAP benefit replacements in the city's Family Crisis Fund, which provides emergency support for people facing financial hardship.
"So the idea is we're going to take some of that funding, hold it in a special pot so that folks who come to the Department of Social Services can be directed to that fund to get some reimbursement for the SNAP funds that have been wrongfully stolen from them," Lynch said.
Lynch said recipients would still have to go through the proper reporting and vetting protocols by filing a claim with social services.
Currently, her budget amendment sets $25,000 aside for the effort, which she acknowledges is not enough.
"I would love to put $100,000. My original amendment was $75,000, but we are in a budget crisis. Council members are working with each other and the administration is trying to reconcile our $32 million worth of amendments," Lynch said.
She added, "These are our neighbors. These are our community members. These are our people, and it is not something we can stomach and go to bed and sleep well at night knowing that folks have gone to our own Department of Social Services, been turned away with no answers, with no help in sight, and they have to tell their kids, 'I don't have dinner tonight.' That's not going to happen on our watch."
Meanwhile, Henrico and Chesterfield counties do not plan on implementing benefit replacements for what is a federally funded and managed program. However, they say they're working with nonprofits, food banks, and churches to assist impacted families.
Henrico said it's seen a "substantial decrease" in reports of stolen benefits since the conclusion of the federal reimbursement program. In October through December 2024, Henrico reported 1,064 claims of stolen benefits. From January through March 2025, the county reported 176 claims.
"As a county, we are sympathetic to those who have been impacted by this and will continue to monitor this situation as well as any other cuts or changes at the federal level. Social Services also continues to direct any impacted residents to local nonprofits that focus on providing food assistance," said county spokesperson Will Jones.
Between January and March 2025, Chesterfield County reported 282 claims of stolen benefits. The county added a new tab on its website to support residents experiencing benefit theft.
"This is a crisis situation," Hall said. "If we're not going to be able to get a reimbursement, then at least try to implement something else so that we know we can trust in just going to get our groceries, if we can depend on anything."
Virginia is rolling out enhanced security measures to prevent benefit theft, which includes a planned transition to chip EBT cards after Governor Youngkin included funding in the budget for SNAP security improvements.
Local News
Virginia invests in ‘cutting-edge’ efforts to prevent SNAP benefit theft
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