PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Four days before Christmas, Congress declined to continue funding replacement EBT benefits for those who have had them stolen. That means, according to a Dec. 23 USDA memo , the federal government isn’t covering cases after Dec 21.
And there have been a lot of those cases in the two weeks since then.
The 10 On Your Side email account and tipline have received many messages about benefits being erased from EBT cards — from parents who have children’s mouths to feed.
The scam or fraud problem isn’t new, and seems to occur one of two ways.
“Thieves place an illegal device on an ATM or a retailer’s card-swiping machine to copy EBT card information,” according to the USDA’s website . They then clone the cards and use up the balance.
The Virginia Department of Social Services website says to be on the lookout for scammers impersonating their department — from email to texts to phone calls.
“Scammers may attempt to contact you with links to access your account or alerts that your account is locked,” its webpage on the topic reads. “VDSS will NEVER contact you through these methods and will only discuss your account through the official EBT Client Customer Service Helpdesk line at 866-281-2448.”