OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — News 4 frequently receives calls from viewers saying their SNAP benefits, or food stamps, have been stolen and the federal government cannot reimburse them. The fix is to lock your benefits card through the app, but some are confused on which app to download.
"We didn't realize customers were confused and that they were using the wrong app," said Catey Brim, the Director of Digital Transformation with the Oklahoma Department of Health and Human Services.
For months, thieves have been stealing hundreds of dollars in SNAP benefits, or food stamps, from Oklahomans. Someone stole more than $750 from Jennifer Roy last week.
"I felt, like panicky. You know? Like, what am I going to do?" Roy told News 4.
Unfortunately, funding to reimburse stolen benefits ended in December. Now, Roy is without those funds until next month.
Brim, with DHS, said they're working on the back end to prevent fraud. In the meantime, they need you to lock your card when not in use with the state's Connect EBT app.
Here are the links to download Connect EBT for Apple iOS and Android.
However, when you type in "Food Stamps" or "Snap Benefits" or "EBT" several different apps pop up.
A popular one is called 'Propel.'
Roy told News 4 she downloaded the app thinking it was the right one. It was a struggle to find the settings to lock her card, but we eventually did.
In the end it didn't even help. Propel doesn't work in Oklahoma. It's beneficial for coupons and information on where to use EBT, but that's it.
"If you click 'Lock your card' on Propel, it's not actually doing anything because it's not our app," said Brim.
Only Connect EBT works in Oklahoma. Once you log in, you'll see the lock/unlock button right at the top.
"That's where you have the ability to lock your card everywhere, or you can lock it for just outside of Oklahoma," said Brim.
Once it's locked, it's safe.
"On the back end we're saying, 'Anything that tries to hit this account? Not happening,'" said Brim.
DHS said over 500,000 fraudulent transactions were blocked in December, just by locking cards.
