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!