SNAP Benefit EBT cards are getting hacked in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – If you’re an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cardholder, you could be at risk of having those needed funds stolen. These funds are part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and EBT is how over 250,000 parents buy groceries for their children.

However, over the last several months, several families across the state have had those funds go missing. For the neediest families in Mississippi, funds through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are the difference between their child eating or going hungry.

“As a single mother, you already have to go to work, try to pay the bills, make sure they are taken care of. SNAP actually helps because it provides the food and stuff that I need,” Teresa Holmes, a mother of two who had her EBT card information stolen, said.

But over the last several months, parents like Teresa Holmes have had to face that difficult decision when hundreds of dollars went missing from their accounts.

“I called my card. They said I had used all of my benefits. And I said, ‘How’s that possible?’ So when I called the EBT hotline, he told me where they were used. They were used all the way in Garden, Kansas,” Holmes explained.

It is something the Mississippi Department of Human Services says they have been watching for months now.

“We’re seeing reports of it sporadically around the country. A card will be used in the state of origin, and then wake up all the way across the country the next morning,” Mark Jones, Chief Communications Officer for MDHS, said.

Even though Holmes has reported the missing funds, she will still have to go the rest of the month with only $30 left on the card for groceries. But that’s not up to MDHS.

“We’re working to receive final approval from our federal partners on how we can move forward in replacing the benefits of those who are affected by phishing, skimming, and loss of benefits on their EBT card. So we’re working as quickly as we can. We hope to implement this in the next few weeks,” Jones explained.

In the meantime, “I’m gonna have to try to go into my cash, what I had saved, to pay my bills and stuff to try to bring groceries into my house. It’s gonna put a damper on it. I’m gonna be behind somewhere. I’m gonna have to miss maybe my car note payment. I’m going to be behind,” Holmes said.

Jones says if you or someone you know falls into this situation, MDHS wants you to report the incident and request a new card and PIN immediately. Secondly, you can reach out to MDHS through their website or by calling 1-800-299-6905 to open a case.

“Once we receive approval from our federal partners, we will work with those reported cases and contact the clients to let them know what the next steps are to replace those funds for any type of phishing and skimming that may have happened back to October 2022,” Jones said.

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