MAINE, USA — Roughly $76,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have been stolen from approximately 300 Maine households this week, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

DHHS said in a news release Thursday that it is alerting EBT cardholders. The incident is still unfolding, and the number of Maine households may increase.

It comes amid a "large-scale" theft operation across a number of states where benefits are taken using stolen card numbers and pins, according to DHHS. Maine's EBT vendor, Fidelity Information Services, is investigating.

"This incident appears to be the result of large-scale theft involving stolen card numbers and PINs – sometimes referred to as 'cloning' – rather than a localized skimming device," DHHS OFI Di

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