CALHOUN, Ky. (WFIE) – For Jessica Rudolph and the other six people that live in her home, food stamp and KTAP money is essential to make ends meet.
That’s why it hurt emotionally and financially when a scammer took nearly $1,000 dollars from her at the beginning of the month.
“Our card was literally in the wallet, in the purse next to us, nobody had touched it,” Rudolph said.
She says the money was withdrawn almost instantly after it was put into her account. Transaction records show her KTAP money was withdrawn at a Wells Fargo. Rudolph says she doesn’t bank there. Records show her food stamp money was used at a Sam’s Club in Texas.
As for how the money was taken, Rudolph doesn’t know, but she thinks it has something to do with using her SNAP card to buy groceries online.
“Your best bet is to just go to the store and get the food yourself,” Rudolph said. “If you can’t find somebody you trust to go to the store for you.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says to best protect yourself from SNAP fraud, avoid using a simple PIN number, change it often, and beware of phishing. State agencies will never call to ask for your PIN or card number.
If you are a victim, they recommend you contact your local food stamp office and police.
That’s what Rudolph did. But it will take time to get back what she’s lost. She says her new food stamps card will be here soon. As for the KTAP money, that could take months to be restored, putting people like her son in a money pinch.
“It’s affected us being able to pay his tuition at Penn Foster,” she said. “He’s got a job, and it’s affected being able to give him gas money to go back and forth to work, making sure he has food for work.”
Rudolph says she went to the McLean County Sheriff’s Office and filed a report. They gave her a case number and are looking into it.
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