CalWORKs EBT theft this morning - do police report or EBT hotline come first?

Call the EBT Customer Service line (1-877-328-9677) IMMEDIATELY to report the theft and freeze your card. Then file a police report right after. You need to document everything. When this happened to me last year, I had to fill out an EBT-2259 form for benefit theft. The police report wasn't strictly required but it helped my case a lot. Make sure you take screenshots of the fraudulent transaction too.

Thank you!! Just got off the phone with EBT, they gave me a reference number and are sending the form. Did you get all your money back when this happened? They said it could take up to 90 days and I'm scared about how to pay rent

this happened to me in december someone got $625 from my account from an atm i never use. call the ebt # first they'll cancel ur card then go file police report bring the report # back to county. they MAde me fill out a bunch of forms and i had to wait almost 2 months to get my $$ back. its so stressful

2 MONTHS?? Omg what did you do for bills and food? Did they give you any emergency assistance while waiting?

Make sure you specifically tell them it's CASH AID theft, not CalFresh. The process is different for each. For Cash Aid theft, you need to:1. Call EBT Customer Service (1-877-328-9677) to report and get your card canceled2. File a police report (get a copy!)3. Fill out the EBT 2259 Cash Aid Theft Report form4. Submit the form AND police report to your county CalWORKs officeThere's a 90-day maximum for investigation, but in reality, many cases are resolved in 30-45 days. The investigation is handled by the EBT contractor (Fidelity National Information Services), not your county worker.Also important: they can only replace up to one month's worth of cash benefits, and only benefits stolen within the last 90 days.

Thank you for the detailed steps! One month's worth is better than nothing. They already sent me the form and I'm filling it out now. Would you recommend bringing it to the office in person or is uploading through BenefitsCal okay?

I had this exact thing happen in November 2024. Whoever stole my benefits took everything! I called the EBT hotline first thing (you should too), filed a police report the same day, then submitted the EBT 2259 form. The most annoying part was I kept calling for updates and no one could tell me anything!!! So frustrating!!! I finally got my money back after 7 weeks. One thing nobody told me - they'll give you a new card but DON'T activate it until AFTER they complete the investigation or they might deny your claim!!

Wait is that true about not activating the new card? I activated mine right away when mine was stolen and still got my money back. I think it depends on your county maybe?

same thing happened to my sister and they didnt give her money back bc she waited 4 days to report it they siad she waited too long. report it TODAY not tomorrow. and get the report # from police

This is correct - you must report cash aid theft within 3 business days of discovering it or your claim will likely be denied.

If you're struggling to get through to someone on the EBT hotline (which is common), I recommend using Claimyr. It's a service that calls and waits on hold for you, then connects you when a real person answers. Saved me hours of frustration when dealing with my benefit theft case. Check their website claimyr.com or see how it works here: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE

Thanks for this tip! I actually got through on the EBT line pretty quickly but I'm having trouble reaching my actual caseworker to tell them what happened. Might try this service for that call.

DID U CHECK IF THE THEIFS TOOK YOUR CALFRESH TOO???? When mine got stolen they took all my cash aid AND my food stamps on the same day!!! Check both balances and report ALL of it stolen. And make SURE you use different passwords for your new card, dont use birthdays or anything easy to guess!!!

Omg I didn't even think to check my CalFresh! Just looked and thankfully that's still there. Thanks for the reminder about using a strong PIN. I was definitely going to use my usual one but now I'll pick something totally random.

The county is taking way too long with these theft cases lately. You should also ask about emergency assistance while you wait. If you have kids, tell your worker you need immediate help because of

This is good advice. When you talk to your worker, specifically mention you need an

I forgot to mention this in my first comment but CHANGE YOUR PIN NUMBER on the new card they send you!!! The thieves somehow got my PIN last time. Also check if there are skimmers on the ATMs you use - I got paranoid and now I only withdraw at the bank ATMs inside the actual bank building, not on the street.

did u use the atm at that 7-11 on madison ave? there was a big skimming thing there last month lots of people got there benfits stolen

No, I haven't used an ATM in over a week! That's why I'm so confused how they got my card info. The transaction was at some random gas station across town I've never been to.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! This is unfortunately becoming more common. Since you haven't used an ATM recently, the thieves likely got your card info through "shimming" - they put a device inside card readers at stores, gas stations, or even some government offices that copies your card data when you swipe for purchases. The good news is you acted quickly by calling the EBT hotline right away. Make sure when you get your replacement card that you cover the keypad with your hand when entering your PIN, and try to use chip readers instead of swiping whenever possible. Also, consider setting up account alerts through the EBT app so you'll know immediately if there are any transactions you didn't make. Hang in there - most people do get their stolen benefits back, it just takes patience during the investigation process.