Mom can’t afford child’s prom dress after EBT card wiped clean
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A mother says she can’t afford to buy her daughter a prom dress after someone stole $435 in state benefits from her EBT card for a second time.
Brenda Hearn said Tuesday she discovered a zero balance on her card. The Department of Human Services told her someone in Texas had used her benefits, and she needed to file a police report.
“It happened last month, too,” said Hearn. “It took them 30 days to give that first one back. Two weeks ago, they gave me money back for the first one, and it has happened again.”
Hearn said she had planned to use her Family First cash assistance benefits to pay for her daughter Brianna’s field trip and buy her a dress and shoes for prom. Now, Brianna can’t go to prom, and she is scrambling to pay bills.
“I just moved here from California and got this place January 11, and I’m trying to catch up,” Hearn said. “My brother paid my phone bill today.”
For the past year, WREG investigators have been tracking more and more people claiming their benefits were stolen.
Memphis Police have also reported a huge increase in EBT fraud. `
SNAP benefits stolen? TN will reimburse you
Last month, WREG uncovered new data showing thousands of people have submitted replacement requests for their stolen SNAP benefits in the past several months, and the State has reimbursed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Security experts said criminals install skimmers onto card machines or use phishing scams or bots to steal personal identification numbers. The cards are then aggregated and used to buy bulk items like energy drinks or baby formula, which the thieves later sell at a discount on the dark web.
Tenn. has reimbursed more than $900k in stolen SNAP benefits
Hearn said DHS is sending her a new card, but there is no guarantee it won’t happen again.
“When it happened the first time, it came a new card and it still happened again,” she said. “How are they going to prevent that?”
For information on how to prevent EBT fraud, what to do if you suspect fraud, and how to submit a fraud-related replacement, visit the Tennessee Department of Human Resources website. You can click here to learn more.
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