Rapidly growing scam siphons nearly $200,000 in 2 weeks from Oregon’s poorest families

In the first half of September, thieves reportedly stole the food and cash benefits from 424 low-income Oregonians or their families by increasingly using a particularly sneaky technique: debit card skimmers placed over a store’s payment machines.

The number of Oregonians who reportedly fell victim in the roughly two-week period far exceeds the number — 285 — in all of July and August combined, state officials said Tuesday.

All victims were among Oregon’s neediest,…