Apr. 11—After falling on hard times, Clinton Ainsworth turned to the government for help until he could get back on his feet.

Ainworth enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as well as a program that provides recipients a monthly cash benefit to meet basic family needs.

But when Ainsworth went to check his balances at the beginning of the month, he made a distressing discovery.

A thief had wiped his accounts clean.

“There were increments of one hundred something dollars and change done one minute right after the very next,” he said Thursday. “Whomever had the wherewithal to get my account information kept hitting it until there was nothing to hit.”

Ainsworth is among hundreds of people in New Mexico whose government benefits are stolen monthly.

Between September and March, more than 2,800 New Mexicans filed reimbursement claims for stolen SNAP benefits alone, according to the state Human Services Department, which administers the aid.

During that period, the highest number of stolen SNAP benefit claims occurred in December with 662 filings.

After a drop in theft claims the following two months, the number spiked back up in March with 388 claims, a roughly 252% increase from the 110 claims filed in February.

The theft of SNAP benefits affects not just needy recipients but taxpayers at large.

Between September and December, the Human Services Department reimbursed more than $1 million in stolen SNAP benefits. Figures for January through March are not yet available.

“Part of what our team is investigating and discovering is that the stolen SNAP benefits mainly are being used outside of the state,” department spokeswoman Marina Piña said. “California, Texas, New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania are the main states.”

Piña said the department doesn’t know how the stolen benefits are being used, whether to purchase groceries as intended or to obtain cash.

In New Mexico, about a quarter of the population, or close to 500,000 people, are enrolled in SNAP, commonly known as food stamps.

Victims of theft should immediately report it to the department, “either by going to a local office or calling our phone number so that they can start the processing of filling out the claim and then they can get reimbursed for the stolen SNAP benefits,” Piña said.

She did not immediately respond to a follow-up inquiry, including a question asking whether any perpetrators have been identified and charged.

Last year, the department urged SNAP customers in Albuquerque to check their account balance and notify the agency if their EBT cards were compromised after a card skimmer was discovered at a grocery store in the Duke City. At the time, the department said other stores in New Mexico may have been targeted in a growing nationwide rash of card skimming.

The warning came after a card skimmer was discovered at a grocery store in Los Lunas, making 488 SNAP households potential victims of EBT fraud.

“It’s unconscionable that anyone would steal food out of the mouths of the most vulnerable New Mexicans,” Cabinet Secretary Kari Armijo said back then. “The sad truth is card skimming can happen to anyone who uses a credit, debit or EBT card, including SNAP customers. We are doing all we can to restore the food benefits of our customers as quickly as possible.”

While Piña said the department replaces SNAP benefits within 10 days after the submission of a claim, Ainsworth said he was told his case would take 60 to 90 days to resolve, though it’s unclear whether his case is different because it involves stolen cash benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program.

“They have no system to help me,” he said. “They told me I could call a Catholic Charities, I think it was, and they offered a $25 gas card.”

Ainsworth, who works in sales, said his financial situation is starting to improve, but the beginning of the month was difficult.

“I have not been to the store,” he said. “I cannot fuel up, and I’m trying to work. I’m out in the field because I’m a salesperson, and I have to be out meeting and talking to people, so it’s extremely stressful. I’m glad the middle of the month is coming. I will get paid, but these two weeks have been brutal, absolutely brutal.”

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.