Days after the state of Oregon worked overnight to restore federal food assistance money to the cards of 757,000 residents whose benefits were frozen during the federal government shutdown , thieves used card skimmers to steal from 41 Oregon recipients as they checked out at the grocery store.

“It’s outrageous,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, in a news release Thursday. “Oregonians went without benefits for far too long, and to have those dollars stolen the moment they hit someone’s card is unconscionable.”

Rayfield added: “These scammers are preying on the most vulnerable people in our communities — it’s like yanking groceries out of someone’s hands at the checkout.”

Rayfield’s office, the Oregon Department of Justice, reported that the thieves stole from the 41 recip

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