EBT card at a POS device (Photo – cdss.ca.gov)
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to launch a countywide, multi-lingual public awareness campaign to educate consumers and vendors about the rollout of new, chip-enhanced Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards that will offer recipients greater protection against skyrocketing cyber fraud.
By News Desk
The new chip-enhanced EBT cards, scheduled to be rolled out by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) this summer, will offer enhanced security against predatory criminals who prey on EBT recipients – some of the County’s most vulnerable and neediest individuals and families – and have scammed millions from their accounts by using electronic equipment, known as skimmers, to capture and clone EBT cards. Since 2021, the frequency of benefits reported stolen statewide has increased by nearly 4,000 percent.
Today’s motion, from Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who represents the First District, and Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the Fourth District, directs the Department of Public Social Services’ recently formed EBT Fraud Task Force Workgroup to conduct a two-tiered, multi-language, culturally inclusive outreach campaign that targets both benefit recipients to educate them about the new cards, and vendors that accept EBT payments for food benefits and cash aid to inform them about new EBT chip card acceptance requirements for their Point-of-Sale devices.
Remarks
“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,” said Supervisor Solis. “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.”
“When we say that LA County is a safety net for our most vulnerable, we mean it,” said Supervisor Hahn. “Chip technology is going to close a hole in that safety net by helping keep criminals away from the critical assistance that so many people depend on to feed their families.”
California EBT Card (Photo – cdss.ca.gov
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards & Point-of-Sale (POS) Devices
The County’s outreach campaign to EBT recipients, to follow, will explain:
- when they will receive their updated EBT cards;
- what recipients should do with their old EBT cards; and
- how unhoused recipients can receive new EBT cards.
Communications to vendors will offer detailed information on who they can contact for technical assistance to upgrade or replace their EBT POS (Point of Sale) devices to accommodate the higher-security, chip/tap cards. The County will also look into potential incentives for vendors to encourage them to upgrade their POS systems in a timely manner.
This motion also directs County agencies to partner with business associations and local chambers of commerce to incentivize and educate local vendors and businesses that accept EBT cards to modernize their POS devices.
Leave a Reply