Romanian organized crime groups are using card skimmers to steal SNAP recipients’ account numbers and PINs, authorities say, in a nationwide scheme that has swindled hundreds of millions of dollars in public benefits. The groups exploit the continued use of magnetic-stripe technology on many government-issued benefits cards, a payment system dating to the 1960s. In one Toledo, Ohio, case, a twice-deported Romanian national allegedly placed a skimmer on a 7-Eleven card machine for a California-based crew led by a Romanian known as Piranha. Court records say informants helped authorities stop the operation. Investigators also describe specialized devices designed to evade merchant detection, with proceeds allegedly funding luxury lifestyles and transfers to Romania for real estate, gambling and crime bosses.