Do you have EBT? Here is what you need to know about the new EBT cards coming by the end of the summer

By the end of the summer, Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards that allow access to food and cash aid benefits like CalFresh and CalWORKs will be upgraded with chip technology to combat the increasing skimming and card fraud experienced in the last few years. 

Low-income and food-insecure seniors, families and individuals can use the food assistance card to purchase food items at participating grocery stores, farmers' markets and some fast-food chain locations. 

However, these benefits have been the main target of scammers and crooked individuals who install skimmers on point-of-sale (POS) terminals and inside ATMs, often in communities with higher concentrations of public benefit recipients. The skimmed data is then re-encoded onto the magnetic strips of cards that scammers use to make unauthorized withdrawals and purchases. An act that is often unnoticeable and leaves the victim with no suspicion until they realize that most or all funds are gone from their account and EBT card.

“It can happen at retail stores, gas stations, banks … anywhere that you can use a credit card or a debit card,” Gerry Bonilla, division chief of program compliance at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, told CALÒ News. “The bad actors place these skimming devices on those point-of-sale devices and then that is how they capture the information and then what they do is duplicate the cards and steal the customer's benefit.”

To prevent this, new EBT cards will be equipped with a chip, allowing users to tap to pay to redeem their EBT benefits. Customers will no longer have to insert cards into the store POS devices, where these card skimmers are placed.

Another thing that will be changed in the new cards will be the cardholder information, which today is located on the front of the card. New EBT cards will have personal information on the back, making it more difficult for skimming devices to read information and create a counterfeit card.

In 2023, California lost about $10 million of taxpayers' money every month to EBT theft, as reported by CalMatter that same year.  

Bonilla said the EBT fraud has been an ongoing problem in L.A. and has skyrocketed in the last few years after the pandemic. “We started noticing an uptick in EBT theft in 2021,” Bonilla said. “In 2020, EBT theft was relatively low. I would say under $500,000, essentially a small amount for L.A. County. In 2023, that number continued to grow and I think we are about close to just over $63 million in EBT theft.”

One of the latest investigations and arrests for EBT skimming happened in Southern California, where seven people were arrested and charged in April with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in public assistance benefits.

As stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the defendants were taken into custody by a U.S. Secret Service-led task force as part of a three-day effort and operation. They were charged with stealing EBT account information and then making fraudulent cash withdrawals at ATMs using that stolen information.

Low-income people of color are among the most impacted by food insecurity. In L.A. County, every three in 10 households experienced food insecurity in 2023, according to a USC study published last September. The study found that food insecurity because of limited money or other resources disproportionately impacts Latino communities. 

According to the USC Dornsife study, in 2023, “rates of food insecurity were more than two times higher among Latino (38%) and Black/African American (38%) residents, compared to white residents (16%).”

“These are food benefits that are going to the most needed families in our communities,” Bonilla said. “The impact is devastating on them. [For] somebody that's counting on those benefits, they go to the ATM only to find that their benefits are gone. You can imagine the panic, and worry that they go through.” 

Bonilla also said that this does not only hurt the pockets of the affected communities, who are food insecure but it also affects taxpayers and the state and county’s economies. “When the benefits are first issued and the bad actors steal them, then our customers, once they report it, they're entitled to replacement benefits,” he said. “We initiate the replacement, but of course, we're having to replace them with more public money.” 

Last week, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to launch a countywide, multi-lingual public awareness campaign to educate consumers and vendors about the rollout of the new, chip-enhanced EBT cards. 

The campaign hopes to target both benefit recipients to educate them about the new cards and vendors that accept EBT to inform them about the new EBT chip card acceptance requirements for their point-of-sale devices. 

“For many recipients, these EBT funds are their primary resource to buy food, pay their rent, and purchase necessities for themselves and their families, so it’s critical that this new EBT card distribution rolls out uninterrupted because even the slightest interruption could have a significant impact,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said. “For vendors, many of whom are mom-and-pop shops, we need to make sure they are equipped with the upgraded software and devices they need to seamlessly adjust to the transition to accept these new cards.”

The outreach campaign will let EBT users, many of whom are Latinos and only speak Spanish, know when they will receive their updated EBT cards, what recipients should do with their old EBT cards and how unhoused recipients can receive new cards. In addition, vendors and shops will also receive detailed information on who they can contact for technical assistance to upgrade or replace their EBT POS devices to accommodate the higher-security chip/tap cards.

As stated by the Board of Supervisors, the county will also “look into potential incentives” to encourage vendors and shops to upgrade their POS systems on time.

One of the things Bonilla recommends for EBT users, even after the new cards are released, is for them to download the ebtEDGE mobile application. The application allows users to manage and look at their accounts and funds. The app also allows users to freeze and unfreeze their EBT card, which can prevent any fraud if it is lost or misplaced. In addition, users can also change their EBT card PIN in the app. The application is free and is managed by the state of California.  

“We want to encourage [users] to do as much as they can to protect themselves, protect their PIN [and] not share their EBT card information with anyone,” Bonilla said. 

The release date of the cards hasn't been confirmed but is expected to be before the end of summer.