Department of Social Services addresses rise in EBT fraud

The Riverside Department of Social Services is warning the public about a new scam targeting some of the most vulnerable people who rely on state benefits. According to DPSS, thieves steal more than 5 million dollars in statewide benefits every month with a method called “skimming”.

“Skimming” is when identity theft devices concealing cameras are installed on ATMs, point of sale (or POS) terminals and even fuel pumps to record people’s card information through holes as small as a pin hole. 

This information is often stored on SD cards in the device or can be obtained through Bluetooth technology. 

Skimming commonly occurs with regular bank cards but there has been a recent uptick of theft against those who rely on EBT benefits. DPSS says this is a growing issue in Riverside County, including Desert Hot Springs,  with 50 to 100 thefts that occur monthly in the area. 

“As the card goes into copies of data on the machine, they also need the pin number to go with it. So they install these cameras that we have here today. And the combination of the two pin numbers and the data is what they use to steal EBT benefits,” said Shawn Ferris, Police Chief of Investigations for the DPSS," said Sean Ferris, Police Chief of Investigations for the DPSS. 

Officials say they are actively working on curtailing this fraud before valuable benefits are stolen from those who need them most. The Special Investigations Unit at DPSS has located and removed more than 40 skimming devices on ATMs in Riverside county in the last few months.

“It's improved technology. It's quality investigations, but it's also what we're doing here today, which is prevention, which is to get these things out of circulation. We have a team out there that's doing that regularly, and get those that use the cards to understand that there are things that they can do to prevent it from occurring as well,” said Shawn Ferris, Police Chief of Investigations for the DPSS. 

DPSS says people can prevent skimming by checking for added hardware on ATMS, POS systems and fuel pumps as fraud devices are often discolored. 

DPSS also suggests that people cover their card information before inserting their cards as cameras used for skimming are often installed above pin pads. 

To report EBT fraud, Riverside County residents can call DPSS’ fraud hotline at 1-800-344-8477 

or fill out an electronic form on their website.