MOBILE, Ala. (WALA/Gray News) – A woman is left with almost nothing after she said her SNAP EBT account was drained.
Frances Jacobson said she was checking the balance of her BET account on Nov. 9 when she noticed something was wrong.
“When I checked it, it said that I had two transactions which totaled $173 but left me five cents,” she said.
Jacobsen is just one of many victims.
According to Alabama’s Department of Human Resources, hackers have stolen millions of dollars from EBT users.
Daniel Sparkman with Alabama DHR said these fraudsters are targeting people by using skimmers on top of credit card devices at gas stations and other businesses to steal these benefits.
“They’re also hitting our third-party vendor system with bot calls, and they are using stolen personal identifying information such as social security numbers and date of birth,” Sparkman said. “By doing that, they are able to get enough information that that’s how they are stealing the benefits.”
DHR is working on security upgrades like converting EBT cards to have chips in them, which makes them more secure.
Users can also go online and turn the cards on and off.
Jacobsen said she has contacted the Mobile Food Stamp office for two weeks and has not heard back.
With the holiday season already here, she’s become very worried.
“I have no food in there,” Jacobson said. “I can’t even make Thanksgiving dinner for myself. The message to the people that stole it, you guys are some pathetic pieces of junk. You guys take stuff from people who have nothing.”
To request replacement benefits, DHR says victims should contact a county DHR office and report their SNAP benefit stolen.
Stolen benefits must be reported within 30 days of the theft being discovered.
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