CANTON – St. Lawrence County officials are warning of an ongoing scams aimed at people receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Officials say there have been at least six reported skimming of cards in St. Lawrence County recently, with one individual losing about $1,400 in benefits.

Some of the incidents allegedly occurred at the Dollar General in Star Lake or Gouverneur, officials say.

In a press release issued Jan. 24 the St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services urged the public to be aware of a text and possible skimming scam involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance (TA) EBT cards.

“Local residents have received text messages from a 1-888 number with a link that requests verification of EBT card number and pin. Thieves have also placed overlay devices (skimmers) on retailer Point of Sale (POS) card reading machines (where you swipe your EBT card), which allow them to copy EBT account and PIN information so they can steal SNAP and cash benefits,” the release says,

Officials from DSS say that the agency will never text clients and will never ask clients to verify their personal information numbers.

Questions regarding the scams can be directed to the DSS Investigation unit at 315-379-2145. They also suggest watching the following video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_fEgP2Jbw