City Officials Point to Increase in Food Stamp Theft

Officials say identity thieves are feeding off New York City's vulnerable by stealing their food stamps.

A fraud officer with the Human Resources Administration says it's become a common occurrence: Identity thieves break into welfare accounts and then steal the stamps.

The agency has distributed flyers to inform clients that they could be targeted. Officials say the scammers typically pose as HRA employees to call food-stamp recipients and obtain their Social Security numbers. The scammers can then use the information to break into accounts.

An HRA spokeswoman, Barbara Brancaccio, says it's important for people to know they should avoid responding to a phone call unless they've gotten written information.