Over $554,000 in food benefit money has been detected as stolen from North Carolina’s Food and Nutrition Services participants since Sunday, Aug. 18 of this year – and a loss of a great deal of money from the program is nothing new.

Criminals can alter card reading equipment at stores, which allows them to steal both the magnetic stripe data from the cards being used and the PINs assigned to those cards.

The method, known as skimming, provides the criminals with the information they need to make charges on the cards until they are depleted.

On Friday, Sept. 6, the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) put a block on online transactions originating from Connecticut, Florida and New York that appeared to be the main sources of the fraudulent activity.

According to a statement from NC DHHS, department officials currently believe that no further fraudulent activity has been conducted since that block was put into effect.

“The surge in stolen benefits is related to online transactions that took place at BJ’s Wholesale Club and was disproportionately impacting participants with higher balances,” the statement reads. “NC DHHS has been cooperating with federal, state and local law enforcement since October 2022 when FNS participants nationwide started being targeted by criminals who were stealing Electronic Benefit Transfer cards through various methods of card skimming, card cloning and fraudulent transactions.”

 This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Since October of 2022, more than $2.7 million in Food and Nutrition Program benefits have been reported stolen from card users in the North Carolina system.

The State of North Carolina – taxpayers, in other words – has been filling in that financial hole created by the money lost by fraud for Food and Nutrition Services participants who’ve had their benefits stolen.

 Beneficiaries of the program who have been victimized by the skimming scam can submit a request to have eligible benefits reimbursed by sending a signed affidavit by mail or fax to their county’s department of social services. They also have the option of coming to the office in person or discussing the matter over the phone with a social services worker.

 In Guilford County, there are social services offices in Greensboro and High Point.

Once the claim is verified and processed, the client will be sent a new Electronic Benefit Transfer card – better known as an “EBT card.” That will arrive in the mail, usually within 3 to 5 business days and then they’ll receive replacement benefits the next calendar day.

The new cards won’t contain funds that were stolen from the previous card. Food benefits clients have to make a claim to receive replacement benefits.

SUNbucks money that has been stolen can’t be replaced. That program provides extra money for families with kids to be sure that they have enough food during the summer.

Moving forward, social services officials suggest the following for keeping your government benefits from being stolen…

  • Check your EBT account regularly for unauthorized charges. You can check your balance and/or replace a lost or stolen card by visiting www.ebtedge.com, using the EBT Edge mobile app or contacting the North Carolina EBT Call Center at 1-888-622-7328.
  • Choose a “difficult” PIN to guess (i.e., not 1234 or 4444). While this might not prevent card skimming, it’s a long-recommended safety practice.
  • If you suspect card skimming, freeze your EBT card when not shopping so that fraudulent purchases can’t be made using your card.
  • Block out-of-state and online purchases from your EBT Edge accounts or the mobile app.
  • Check EBT card-reading machines in stores to make sure there’s nothing suspicious overlayed or attached to the card swiper.
  • Contact your local law enforcement agency to report any stolen benefits.
  • Call the EBT Call Center at 1-888-622-7328 to request a new EBT card at no cost.
  • Change the PIN of the EBT card regularly using a new number each time.

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