Following the news that the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has kicked off a program whereby Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients can easily freeze and unfreeze access to their benefits via their smartphones, in order to protect those benefits from hackers, Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) is calling on the state to come up with security measures that would also protect people who do not have smartphones.

The move follows a rash of thefts from SNAP accounts via unauthorized transactions made either out of state or online whereby recipients of benefits suddenly found their accounts emptied of funds that they need to purchase food for their families. While the federal government had previously refunded amounts that were stolen via skimming, cloning or phishing once the theft was proven, it stopped doing so on December 20, 2024. The new system allows SNAP recipients to unfreeze their accounts on their smartphones when they are ready to pay for groceries, then freeze them right afterwards.

“We have had a steady stream of constituents come to our office for assistance after their SNAP benefits were stolen, and we have been urging OTDA for months to come up with a system that protected these innocent people who rely on their benefits to feed themselves and their families,” said Assemblyman Colton. “I am truly glad that they have come up with a system that begins to address this critical issue. It is a good start, but now they need to come up with a way of protecting everyone, not just those who have a smartphone, by creating a secure card whose data cannot be hacked by heartless scammers.

“In addition, since the federal government no longer reimburses victims of SNAP benefit theft for their losses, the state needs to do so,” Assemblyman Colton went on. “After all, these people were scammed via a card that was designed by New York State, so New York State needs to accept responsibility and compensate them for the benefits they lost through no fault of their own.”

SNAP recipients can freeze and unfreeze their accounts at www.ebtEDGE.com, or via the ebtEDGE mobile app, which is available at the Apple App Store or via Google Play.