Does a viral post about “a 26-year-old man from Chicago” arrested over “hacking into the Cook County Human Services system” to approve all food stamp applications describe a real-life incident? No, that’s not true: The mugshot of the imaginary suspect was generated by AI. Earlier versions of the rumor started years ago as pranks and satire.
A 26-year-old man from Chicago, Il. was arrested this weekend after allegedly hacking into the Cook County Human Services system & approving every single application for food stamps. But he didn’t stop there — he reportedly had new EBT cards mailed out to applicants with $2.5K loaded on each, and even credited existing cardholders with an extra $2.5K.
(Image source: Ccsheriff.org.)
The press office of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office told Lead Stories via email on July 24, 2026:…