EBT card suddenly cancelled with benefits still on it - second time in 4 months!!

yep this happened to me last month!! no explanation just cancelled. i had to call county office and sit on hold for almost 2 hrs to get someone to help. they said something about a 'security measure' but wouldnt explain more. got new card in about 5 days.

There have been a lot of EBT card cancellations lately due to potential security breaches. It's actually a protective measure, but county offices have been terrible about communicating this to recipients. Your benefits are safe and will automatically transfer to your new card. You have two options to speed things up: 1. Go to your county office in person with ID and they can often issue a temporary card same-day 2. Call your county's CalFresh office and request an emergency replacement - they can expedite shipping to 3 days if you explain it's your only food source

This is RIDICULOUS!!! The system is broken. I've had my card cancelled THREE TIMES in the past year with no warning and NO explanation!!! I'm convinced they do it on purpose to make it harder for us to use our benefits. Every time they cancel, it's at least 7 days for a new card, and then you have to update all your auto-payments for bills. I've been hit with late fees because of this garbage. And try explaining to your hungry kids why there's no food. The whole system needs to be OVERHAULED!!!

omg i literally just posted about this in another group!! my card stopped working yesterday at walmart. so embarassing with everybody behind me in line. didnt know it was cancelled until i saw ur post and checked by calling. ugh now i gotta figure out dinner for tonight. did anybody else get a new card pretty fast??

**UPDATE FOR EVERYONE HAVING THIS ISSUE:** I just checked with a colleague who works for CDSS. They confirmed there was a large batch of EBT cards cancelled on Monday due to a potential data breach at one of their processing centers. This affected approximately 35,000 cards statewide. To get the fastest replacement: 1. Call the EBT customer service line (not your county) at 1-877-328-9677 2. Specifically request an "emergency replacement due to the security breach" 3. Tell them you have no food resources and need expedited delivery They should be able to get you a card in 2-3 business days instead of the standard 7-10. Your benefits remain safe in your account throughout this process.

I work for a community organization that assists with benefit issues. In addition to the great advice already shared about expediting your replacement card, here are some emergency food options while you wait: 1. Your local food bank - many now offer same-day emergency boxes 2. Call 211 for immediate food assistance resources in your area 3. If you have school-aged children, many schools offer free dinner programs 4. Some counties have emergency grocery vouchers for situations exactly like this Don't be embarrassed to use these resources - that's exactly what they're there for!

does anyone know if this affects the cash benefits too or just the food part? i have rent due and was planning to withdraw my calworks money tomorrow...

update: went to county office in person this morning, waited 2hrs but got a temporary card right away! they transferred all my benefits to it. just fyi for anyone else dealing with this mess

This whole situation is such a mess but I'm glad we're all sharing info to help each other out! For anyone still dealing with this - I just wanted to add that if you're having trouble getting through to the EBT customer service line (1-877-328-9677), try calling early in the morning around 8am or later in the evening after 6pm. The wait times are usually shorter then. Also, if you have multiple people in your household affected, you can have each person call separately to try to get through faster. The system allows one replacement request per person per incident. Hang in there everyone - this shouldn't be happening to us but at least we can support each other through it!

This is exactly what I've been dealing with! My card got cancelled two weeks ago and I'm still waiting for the replacement. I called the EBT line multiple times but kept getting disconnected. Finally went to my county office yesterday and they told me about the security breach - wish they had communicated this better from the start! I'm a single mom with two kids and it's been really tough stretching what little food we had left. Thank you everyone for sharing these tips, especially about calling early morning or evening. Going to try calling again tomorrow at 8am and mention the security breach specifically. It's frustrating that we have to figure this out ourselves when the system should be helping us, but I'm grateful for this community support!

I'm dealing with the exact same thing right now! My card was cancelled yesterday and I had no idea why until I read this thread. Thank you so much to everyone sharing information - especially @Ethan Campbell for the update about the security breach affecting 35,000 cards. That explains everything! I'm going to try calling the EBT line first thing tomorrow morning and specifically mention the security breach to get expedited shipping. It's really frustrating that they didn't send any notification about this, but I'm grateful we have this community to share info and help each other out. Going to also check out the food bank options while I wait for my replacement card. Hang in there everyone - hopefully they'll get this sorted out soon!

This is such a nightmare! I'm actually going through the same thing right now - my card was cancelled yesterday and I had no clue what was happening until I found this thread. I was panicking thinking my benefits were gone forever. Thank you so much @Ethan Campbell for explaining about the security breach - that makes so much more sense now! I'm definitely going to call the EBT line tomorrow morning at 8am like @Diego Vargas suggested and mention the security breach specifically. It's absolutely ridiculous that they didn't notify any of us about this ahead of time. I mean, we're talking about people's ability to feed their families here! At least knowing it's affecting 35,000 people makes me feel less like I'm being targeted. Going to hit up the local food bank today too while I wait for the replacement. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and tips - this community is literally a lifesaver when the actual system fails us so badly.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! My card got cancelled this morning and I had no idea what was happening until I found this thread. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and especially @Ethan Campbell for explaining about the security breach - that makes so much sense now! I was starting to think I was being singled out or did something wrong. I'm definitely going to try calling the EBT line at 8am tomorrow like @Diego Vargas suggested and specifically mention the security breach to get expedited shipping. It's so frustrating that they cancelled 35,000 cards without any advance notice to recipients - we shouldn't have to find out through community forums that our food access has been cut off! But I'm really grateful for everyone sharing tips and resources here. Going to check out my local food bank today while I wait for the replacement card. This community support means everything when the official systems fail us so badly.

Just wanted to share an update for anyone still dealing with this - I called the EBT line this morning at 8am as suggested and got through in about 15 minutes! When I mentioned the security breach specifically, they were able to expedite my replacement card for delivery by Thursday. The customer service rep was actually pretty helpful once I got through and confirmed that this batch of cancellations was indeed due to the data breach at their processing center. She also mentioned that they're working on improving their notification system so this doesn't happen again without warning. For anyone still waiting to call, definitely try the early morning approach - it really does make a difference in wait times. Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences and tips in this thread. This community support has been invaluable during such a stressful situation!

This exact thing just happened to me too! My card was declined at Target yesterday and I had no idea what was going on until I called and found out it was cancelled. I'm a newcomer to this community but I'm so grateful I found this thread - @Ethan Campbell thank you so much for explaining about the security breach affecting 35,000 cards! That makes me feel so much better knowing it wasn't something I did wrong. I was literally standing there with a cart full of groceries feeling so embarrassed and confused. I'm definitely going to try calling the EBT line at 8am tomorrow like everyone suggested and mention the security breach specifically to get expedited shipping. It's absolutely insane that they didn't notify any of us about this - I mean, we're talking about people's ability to buy food! But this community has been more helpful in one thread than any official communication I've received. Going to check out my local food bank today while I wait for the replacement. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips!

This is absolutely unacceptable! I'm new to this community but had to jump in because the EXACT same thing just happened to me yesterday. Card declined at the grocery store, no warning, no explanation - just cancelled. I felt so humiliated standing there with my kids while the cashier kept trying to run my card. Thank you @Ethan Campbell for explaining about the security breach - at least now I understand why this happened to 35,000 of us! But seriously, how do they justify cutting off people's food access without ANY notification? I'm a single parent and this is my family's lifeline. I'm definitely calling at 8am tomorrow using everyone's tips about mentioning the security breach specifically. This community has been more helpful in this one thread than any official communication I've received. It's shameful that we have to figure this out ourselves, but I'm grateful we're all here supporting each other through this mess!

I'm so sorry this is happening to you too! As someone new to this community, I just wanted to say how grateful I am that everyone is sharing their experiences and tips here. I'm dealing with a similar situation - my EBT card was suddenly cancelled last week with no explanation, and I had over $280 in benefits on it that my family desperately needs. The lack of communication from the system is just appalling. Reading through all these comments has been both frustrating (realizing how widespread this problem is) and reassuring (knowing I'm not alone). I tried calling the regular customer service line multiple times but kept getting disconnected after long waits. I'm definitely going to try the 8am call strategy tomorrow and specifically mention the security breach like @Ethan Campbell suggested. It's incredible that we have to rely on community forums to get basic information about our benefits, but thank you all for sharing your knowledge and supporting each other through this mess!

I'm so sorry this is happening to you and everyone else here! I'm new to this community but dealing with the exact same issue - my EBT card was cancelled yesterday without any warning and I had no idea why until I found this thread. Thank you so much @Ethan Campbell for explaining about the security breach affecting 35,000 cards - that finally makes sense of this whole mess! It's absolutely unacceptable that they would cut off people's food access without any notification whatsoever. I was at the store with my elderly mother when the card got declined and felt so confused and embarrassed. Reading all these experiences has been both reassuring (knowing it's not just me) and infuriating (seeing how poorly this was handled). I'm definitely going to try calling the EBT line at 8am tomorrow using everyone's tips about mentioning the security breach specifically to get expedited shipping. This community has been more helpful than any official communication - thank you all for sharing your knowledge and supporting each other when the system has completely failed us!

I'm so sorry you're going through this! As someone new to this community, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone sharing their experiences here - it's been incredibly helpful and reassuring to know I'm not alone. My EBT card was also cancelled yesterday with no warning, and I had nearly $200 in benefits that my family needs for groceries this week. I was completely panicked until I found this thread and learned about the security breach affecting 35,000 cards. The lack of communication from the system is just unacceptable - they should have notified all of us before cancelling our cards! I'm definitely going to try calling the EBT line at 8am tomorrow and specifically mention the security breach to request expedited shipping like so many of you have successfully done. This community has provided more useful information in one thread than any official communication I've received. Thank you all for supporting each other when the system has completely failed us!

I'm new to this community but dealing with the exact same situation! My card was cancelled this morning without any warning - I was trying to buy groceries for my kids and it just wouldn't work. I had no idea what was happening until I found this thread. Thank you so much @Ethan Campbell for explaining about the security breach affecting 35,000 cards - that finally gives me some answers! It's absolutely ridiculous that they would cancel our cards without any notification when people depend on these benefits to feed their families. The embarrassment at the store checkout was awful. I'm definitely going to try calling the EBT line at 8am tomorrow and mention the security breach specifically to get expedited shipping like others have done successfully. This community has been more informative than any official communication - thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and tips during this frustrating situation!