EBT card compromised - CalFresh benefits stolen and county not responding for 3 weeks!

omg this same thing happened to my mom last year!!! the county took over a month to replace her benefits too. she kept calling and they kept saying \

A MONTH?? We can't wait that long! Did she do anything special to finally get them to help her? I've been calling at different times thinking I might catch someone who actually answers...

Thats why i always pull all my benefits out at once on the 1st and convert to cash. Cant trust tha ebt cards anymore with all tha skimmers and hackers.

Just a heads up - converting CalFresh benefits to cash is actually against program rules and could potentially lead to a benefit violation. I understand the security concern, but better options are changing your PIN frequently and checking your balance daily. Many counties are now investigating cash conversions because of increased fraud.

I work with benefit theft cases and unfortunately this is becoming very common. Here's what you need to do:\n\n1. Make sure you've submitted form CF 303 (EBT Benefit Theft Report) to your county office\n2. Get a specific case number for your theft report (different from your regular case number)\n3. Request a \

Thank you so much for this detailed info. I did submit the CF 303 but didn't know about requesting emergency replacement benefits while waiting! Do I need to submit a separate form for that? And I'll definitely ask for the supervisor escalation tomorrow.

I just went through this exact situation in November 2024. The county offices are completely overwhelmed with these cases - there's been a huge spike in EBT theft. What finally worked for me was contacting my county Board of Supervisors office. They have constituent services staff who can cut through the bureaucracy. I had my benefits replaced within 48 hours after my supervisor's office contacted CalFresh administration. Don't wait for the regular process - it's too slow.

That's brilliant, I didn't think about contacting the Board of Supervisors! I'm in Sacramento County - did you just call their main office number? I'll try anything at this point.

Have you tried using Claimyr? When I had a similar situation last month with stolen benefits, I was going CRAZY with the hold times. Then someone recommended Claimyr.com and it was a game-changer. They basically wait on hold with the county for you and call you when a real person answers. I was skeptical but watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8) and decided to try it. Got through to a supervisor within an hour who expedited my claim. Definitely worth checking out when you're in this kind of emergency situation.

does that actually work?? i've been on hold with alameda county for HOURS this week trying to fix my mom's benefits

I want to add some important information about benefit theft in 2025. The state implemented new rules in October 2024 that require counties to process theft claims within 15 business days. They're backlogged, but legally they must comply. Be sure to specifically mention \

Thank you! I didn't know about AB-158 - that's exactly the kind of specific language that might help. I'll mention this when I call tomorrow. We've been to the food bank once already but didn't know they might have special programs for this situation. Will definitely ask about that.

this is y i always say keep sum cash aside for emergencies!!! the goverment systems never work when u need them. my cousins bf works at calfresh and he says they have THOUSANDS of these cases but not enough workers to process them all. praying for ur family 🙏

For real tho! Government always take they time when its OUR money but want us to report every penny we make right away or they call it fraud 🙄

UPDATE: Finally got through to someone at the county office today! Used both the Claimyr service someone recommended here (which actually worked!) and mentioned AB-158 like another person suggested. The supervisor I spoke with said my case was \