Thousands of Washington, D.C.’s most vulnerable residents have been the target of a scam that’s costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
The scammers are stealing money from residents who receive SNAP benefits and other public assistance.
In the last two years, more than $6.5 million has been stolen in D.C. alone. But it’s not just happening in the District. It’s a nationwide problem.
News4’s Mark Segraves broke the story that you’ll see only on 4.
'Something's wrong here'
Talisa Hawkins is unemployed and raising her young niece. Like tens of thousands of D.C. residents, she relies on public assistance, including SNAP benefits and welfare, to put food on the table and pay rent.
Those types of benefits are issued using electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.
But this month, when Hawkins went to use her government-issued EBT card, it was declined.
"Once I went to my local grocery store and my card was declined for a third time, I said, 'hey, something's wrong here.'" Hawkins said. "So I went ahead and called it, and it said my available balance was like, nine dollars. And I was like, 'that can't be, I just got my payment.'"
When Hawkins looked at her account online, she saw her money had been withdrawn hours after it had been deposited on the first of the month, leaving her unable to pay her rent and get her niece school supplies.
"I really need those things to get me through the month. Winter is coming, you know, ... and even worse, Christmas is right behind that. So preying on us, It just feels like another attack on top of an already difficult situation."
EBT fraud is growing. Here's how recipients can protect themselves
Hawkins is just one of thousands of D.C. residents who have been targeted by criminals cloning or skimming EBT cards.
Last fiscal year, 4,689 EBT fraud cases were reported in D.C., totaling more than $3.1 million.
This fiscal year, the number of cases jumped to more than 6,800, totaling more than $3.4 million.
Laura Green Zeilinger, the director of the D.C. Department of Human Services, tells News4 that it’s a nationwide problem that’s getting worse because federal law does not require EBT cards to have the same protection as debit and credit cards, such as an embedded chip.
Zeilinger says there are ways residents who receive benefits on an EBT card can protect themselves.
Here’s what she suggests:
- Change a card’s PIN
- Freeze cards in between purchases
- Prevent out-of-state transactions
- Sign up for multi-factor authentication
- Sign up for alerts so you know as soon as your card is used
"It really is quite sad that this is where our country is at, because we are the most vulnerable people," Hawkins said.
Right now, the federal government is reimbursing the stolen money to victims, but that funding is set to run out at the end of the month.
The D.C. Department of Human Services says it takes between seven and 14 days for stolen benefits to be reimbursed.
