Photo: Salinas Police Department
(KRON) — An Oakland resident faces charges of device fraud and theft in Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), the system used in California to provide CalFresh, CalWORKs and other food and cash assistance benefits. Three people were arrested and charged.
U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and the U.S. Secret Service (“USSS”) in San Francisco announced the news on Thursday.
The complaint alleges that the Oakland residents, all from Romania, used “cloned” cards to fraudulently withdraw cash. A “clone” card is a debit card, gift card, or other device with a magnetic strip encoded with information from his genuine EBT card.
Prosecutors said the three Oakland residents obtained information about other account holders through “skimming.” Skimming is when an individual's card information is recorded through an overlay on an ATM keypad before withdrawing cash.
Because this is a government assistance program, many of its victims are primarily low-income households who rely on EBT benefits to purchase food and other household necessities.
From January to March of this year, California reported more than $22 million in losses due to electronic benefit transfer theft, according to the USSS.
Prosecutors said if convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison for each charge.
