MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) -- About 14,000 EBT participants had benefits stolen from them last month. Now, the Alabama Department of Human Resources is bringing heightened security measures to users next year, which involve chip cards.
"We just ask those individuals to continue to try to be vigilant of their surroundings when they're shopping," said Brandon Hardin, the DHR's food assistance director.
Hardin explained that there's been close to 30,000 cases of fraud among EBT users over the past few months. He said it is rolling out chip cards for users next spring to combat card skimming.
"We also ask individuals to not give their personal information out if someone is calling you, or if they're texting you," Hardin said. "Specifically, do not give out your card number or your PIN."
Carol Gundlach, policy analyst with Alabama Arise, said it would take years before those chip cards get rolled out. But she said families really count on these benefits
"It's horrible. Because people go to the grocery store, they're buying food for their families," Gundlach said. "They've got hungry kids at home. The holidays are coming up, and they get told there's no benefits on the card."
She said there's another solution in the short term.
"That is, for people to change their PIN numbers often, and to change your PIN numbers quickly right before your benefits are going to be deposited on your card," Gundlach said.
Hardin said if your benefits are stolen, the DHR can help.
"If you sign an affidavit, we will process that in approximately two weeks," Hardin said. "We will continue to work through that throughout the holidays. We have a large team here working on that throughout the holidays, and we will continue to make that a priority."
Hardin said it has already replaced about $5 million. He said it is working hard to replace these benefits in a timely manner.