SNAP fraud skyrockets as Michigan sends 738 new Bridge cards a day

Michigan mailed out roughly 738 Bridge cards every day in 2024 for a total of 269,644 cards, according to a document obtained through a records request.

Cards could be replaced for reasons such as theft, demagnetization of the card, or forgotten PINs. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services didn’t respond to a request for comment on how many cards were in each category.

More than 1.4 million Michiganders use those cards to buy groceries through the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is administered by the state. But criminals have infiltrated the program, cloning cards and then draining their funds.

Michigan Capitol Confidential exclusively reported that food stamp fraud jumped by nearly 400% from fiscal year 2023 to 2024. The dollar amount of reported fraud increased from $181,778 to $884,947.

Bridge cards use a magnetic strip that can easily be cloned. Criminals steal funds in several ways: installing a fake card reader at public places, buying compromised log-ins on the dark web and using phishing emails. Meanwhile, banks have, since 2015, protected their customers’ money by embedding chips into debit and credit cards.

Nationwide, annual SNAP fraud totals about $18 billion, Haywood Talcove of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a company banks and unemployment agencies use to help prevent fraud, told CapCon in an email.

“Michigan’s high rate of card replacements is a clear indicator of that systemic vulnerability,” Talcove wrote in an email. “Much of this fraud is driven by the outdated magnetic stripe technology, which makes it easy for criminal organizations to clone cards and steal from food-insecure families.”

Upgrading to chipped cards would cost Michigan about $8 million, CapCon reported. That change would reduce fraud by around 40%, Talcove said. But it would not, he said, be enough to stop criminal rings that clone terminals of legitimate retailers by using account numbers stolen from the Food and Nutrition Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We shouldn’t stop at chips,” Talcove wrote. “The future of benefit delivery is a secure digital wallet. It’s less expensive, safer, and faster — and gives states an opportunity to verify whether recipients are still eligible, still residing in the state and still in need.”

Most people who qualify for food stamps also qualify under a federal program for a smartphone, which could be used for a digital wallet.

“While a chip card may cost around $10 per person to issue, the real cost of doing nothing is much higher,” Talcove said. “If Michigan continues to replace roughly 22,000 cards a month, that’s not only a recurring expense — it’s an open door for criminal exploitation."

A previously unreleased email obtained by CapCon through a separate public records request shows that federal officials were aware of international criminals targeting Michigan’s food assistance program.

In a January 2023 email, Tim English, acting associate administrator of SNAP at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote to Stacy Dean, another department official, to warn of a Russian-based group preparing to exploit Michigan’s benefits program.

LexisNexis “shared that they think that Michigan may/will be the next target area based on a Russian-based group working in that area,” the email from English read.

CapCon filed the records request with federal officials on Sept. 27, 2023, and received the documents 599 days later.

The state health department hasn’t responded to a request for comment. But an agency representative testified in April before a subcommittee of the Michigan House Oversight Committee.

Dwayne Haywood, senior deputy director of the economic stability administration, said that Bridge cards use outdated technology.

“I will be honest with you. That's one of the reasons why we are looking at updating the chip and the technology,” Haywood told the Subcommittee on State and Local Public Assistance Programs.

Michigan has continued to replace Bridge cards in 2025. It sent out 20,451 in January, 17,628 in February and 19,324 in March, according to information CapCon received from a records request.