MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Your taxpayer money designated to help the most vulnerable continues to wind up in the hands of criminals.
“We live paycheck to paycheck,” Katherine Jones said as she relived the frustration on her work break. “You affected my daughter and her ability to care for her boys.”
Her daughter relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to help feed her children.
“One is four, and one is under the age of two,” Jones said. “She just started a job three days ago, so she doesn’t even have enough money coming in to make ends meet.”
These past few months have set her daughter back even more. In April, Jones’ daughter noticed someone drained the benefits just minutes after they were deposited.
She called police and the Tennessee Department of Human Services. While they were investigating, it happened again.
That’s right, the same thing happened in May. Minutes after her benefits showed up in her account, someone spent all but two dollars at Walmart.
“It’s just frustrating that, you know, people can so easily access your information, use it without a care in the world, and nothing gets stopped,” Jones said.
It took another series of calls to finally get more information. Jones is an authorized representative on her daughter’s account, which means she has her own EBT card linked to the account, so she can make a purchase on the family’s behalf.
She said she’s used the card once for a pickup purchase.
“They were using the card sent to me. Both times the transactions were done in Florida online, but they were using my card, not hers,” she said.
What was even more stressful, the state said the stolen benefits would not be replaced.
In 2022, Congress approved replacing benefits stolen via card skimming, card cloning or fraud. That came to an end in December.
“They have no plans on reimbursing stolen SNAP benefits,” Tennessee Rep. Antonio Parkinson said. “The person who needs it the most is being harmed, and there’s no recourse for them. We have over $2 billion in our rainy day fund, but you know, the ruling party, the Republican party, is refusing to use that money for the things it’s really needed for.”
For more than two years, WREG Investigators has tracked more and more people claiming their benefits were stolen.
In 2023, MPD started seeing a huge influx of reports. They stated hundreds of people were alleging their EBT card was fraudulently used.
Security experts told us the criminals will often install skimmers onto card machines or use phishing scams or bots to steal personal identification numbers.
“The cards are being stolen then aggregated and then they’re going to the big box stores and they’re buying Monsters, buying Redbull, they are buying baby formula, and then they are selling it on the dark web,” said Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ Government Group.
Last spring, the Tennessee Department of Human Services reported more than 7,800 people claimed benefit fraud, and more than $933,000 dollars worth of benefits had been restored.
The USDA reported adding a chip to the EBT card would make it a more secure payment option.
California, Alabama, Oklahoma and a few other states have or are implementing chips.
Tennessee officials said they are exploring all available options.
The state did switch to a new EBT vendor last fall hoping to “improve fraud prevention and card security.”
We requested the contract to find out more, but because it contained “detailed descriptions of technology” considered confidential information, it would take them five hours to redact and cost $244 to get a copy.
A spokesperson assured us the new vendor, ebtEDGE, is taking “proactive security measures” through its mobile app, like card-freezing and regular PIN updates. Customers can monitor, report and get alerts of any suspicious or unauthorized transactions.
Still, TDHS reports between January and May, more than 1,000 households filed a skimming or cloning complaint.
That’s thousands of taxpayer dollars that should have helped vulnerable families in need, but would up in the hands of criminals instead.
“It’s very frustrating. It’s frustrating for me as a mom watching my daughter have to go through this,” Jones said. “We’re very concerned it could happen again.”
Jones said her family has ordered new cards and installed every security measure offered.
As for the people who stole the benefits, they have yet to be caught.
TDHS recommendations to prevent benefit theft:
TDHS advises customers to take proactive security measure by using ebtEDGE to protect their benefits, including:
- Utilization of card-freezing features
- Regular PIN updates
- Monitoring account activity for suspicious transactions
- Reporting unauthorized transactions immediately to mitigate further losses
The ebtEDGE mobile app allows customers to log in securely using touch ID or facial recognition instead of entering a user ID and password. The ebtEdge mobile app is available from the Apple App Store for iPhone and the Google PlayStore for Android devices.
For more information on how to download the ebtEDGE mobile app, customers can find instructional videos by clicking here.
