EBT Abusers

[Gurndigarn]

For example, many people I've talked to imagine that poor people should be buying bulk ingredients like rice and pasta and making their own food. In reality, many people who are living below the poverty line are working their butts off in really, really crummy jobs, coming home exhausted, and many of them don't have the childhood where anyone taught them to cook. So they have no energy, no time, and no knowledge -- what they know is Chef Boyardee, potato chips, TV dinners, and other convenience foods. Heck, when I have a day like today where my shop is slammed all day, it's all I can do to drag myself into my comfy chair. I can relate.

A bit of training on how to make real food would be a good idea. Cheaper, better for them-- and if a real governmental crunch comes (such as foreign countries not purchasing bonds any more), they've got some essential skills.

With WIC, I understand that what people can and can't buy is very, very limited. Is that true? As in, some cereals are okay, but others aren't?

Yup. They give very specific lists of what cheeses, juice, and cereal you can buy with them. It is, IMO, a better system than food stamps, and personally, that's how I would run the entire food stamp program. You can get your choice of X, Y, or Z. Take your pick. We'll even deliver.

[GayleShy]

In Alaska the customer is allowed to get cash back on their EBT card, up to $100, as well as use the cash part like a debit card. We have people who will buy their junk food (we only carry junk at my Wal-Mart) then they'll turn around and buy cigarettes. I'm sorry, but that is going too far. The cash is for things like dog food, toilet paper, diapers and the like. My family went on welfare when my dad hurt his back and was out of work for a long time and my mother put in her long hours at a daycare center and a janitorial service, so I do understand that people need treats to lighten things up and feel more human, but I think cigarettes are not one of those things.

[Monica]

We have the ebt type food stamp cards. I work in a place where they can use the debit side, to buy anything, including cigarattes.

[RailroadMonster]

There are these cards that we have where I live, called Access Cards, which are like food stamps in card form. Well, one guy came up with a case of Red Bull and tried to pay with his access card. The stupidity.

[paige]

Here in Florida, sometimes people who get cash assistance from the State get it on an EBT card and are expected to get cashback at stores (then they pay rent or utilities) -- especially if the person doesn't have a bank acct for cashing paper checks or direct deposit.

Sometimes even Social Security or SSDI (disability) payments are issued on an EBT card. I've heard of older folks getting grief about it when someone assumes it's only for food stamps.

There are lots of reasons why someone might have an EBT card and why certain rules may not apply across the board.

[Hobgoblin]

There's an EBT scam going around that hasn't yet been mentioned. One transaction is run for say, $21.50 on the EBT card. The person will then immediately ask to take out whatever the transaction amount is-- in this example, $21.5--in cash (Missouri allows cash advances on EBT). The cash advance goes through, but it doesn't register on the EBT card itself. So the person gets to keep the cash and isn't hit up for the money. The store, however, gets hosed for the amount. Now, $20 or whatever may not be too bad (although it sucks to get taken like that when you are the customer) but my friend who told me about this got hit up for ~$100. His manager wasn't too pleased, but what could he do?

Oh, and hopefully my posting this doesn't break any rules or motivate someone here to actually do this. That's not at all my intent. If this breaks some board rule that I somehow overlooked, I'll happily see my post deleted or [snip]ed.

[CrazedClerk]

Reading this thread reminds me of those stories that came out after Hurricane Katrina when everyone got those FEMA debit cards for "Essentials" and people were using them to buy expensive jewlery, plasma TVs, escort services and whatnot.

There's just no way to develop a system that doesn't fall victim to these types of abusers. Even if it was a system where you had a set quantity of groceries/clothings/whatever delivered once a month to your door, there would probably still be people who would abuse it by say registering a different address under an alias to get twice as much stuff. No matter how good the system gets, the abusers stay one step ahead.

[Rapscallion]

There's an EBT scam going around that hasn't yet been mentioned. One transaction is run for say, $21.50 on the EBT card. The person will then immediately ask to take out whatever the transaction amount is-- in this example, $21.5--in cash (Missouri allows cash advances on EBT). The cash advance goes through, but it doesn't register on the EBT card itself. So the person gets to keep the cash and isn't hit up for the money. The store, however, gets hosed for the amount. Now, $20 or whatever may not be too bad (although it sucks to get taken like that when you are the customer) but my friend who told me about this got hit up for ~$100. His manager wasn't too pleased, but what could he do?

Oh, and hopefully my posting this doesn't break any rules or motivate someone here to actually do this. That's not at all my intent. If this breaks some board rule that I somehow overlooked, I'll happily see my post deleted or [snip]ed.

Is there some way for the members of this board to notice this scam and avoid being hit?

That would be useful.

Rapscallion

[Hobgoblin]

Is there some way for the members of this board to notice this scam and avoid being hit?

That would be useful.

Rapscallion

Basically, if someone runs an EBT and then asks to get cash for the same amount, the clerk has several options: 1) exercise the right to deny service; 2) politely state that you can't run it for that amount but you can for XX dollars; 3) call the supervisor over and explain the situation (I have no idea how many people know that this goes on); or 4) run it, but for a slightly different amount.

Also, I don't know if this even still works. It might be that the folks in charge of EBT have fixed the problem or that it only works at Schnucks (grocery store chain). Who knows? But better to be safe with it I suppose.

[Primer]

I'm confused (as usual). They run a purchase for an amount, then immediately run a cash advance for the same amount, but only one of the transactions will post?

That's definitely a glitch in the (EBT) system that needs to be fixed!