People in Pennsylvania are being alerted to a new scam targeting those who receive SNAP benefits.The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services said Wednesday that SNAP clients are receiving calls from several phone numbers saying that benefits are on hold until eligibility can be verified by calling a number and providing a pin.

We could see a surge in need for food assistance like we’ve never really seen before,” a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Feeding Pennsylvania said.

If the federal government shutdown continues into November, SNAP payments will dry up for nearly 472,000 residents in Philadelphia alone.

Federal food assistance is about to run dry in just over a week amid the protracted government shutdown. WellSpan is stepping up to help feed 1 million meals.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is warning SNAP recipients that there is an active scam that aims to target their benefits. According to the department, recipients have been receiving calls from the numbers listed below,

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Illinois and California issued notices to SNAP recipients about a possible disruption.

States warned this week that tens of millions of Americans could see a gap in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, if the shutdown continues through the end of the month.