Food Stamp Fraud: Beneficiaries Illegally Sell EBT Cards On Craigslist, Social Media Sites
November 3, 2013 11:45 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) - ItÂ’s a welfare fraud scheme costing U.S. taxpayers $750 million a year. People are illegally selling their electronic food stamp cards on Craigslist and other social media sites for cash.
CBS13 found two people here in Sacramento, both with the same idea, using Craigslist as free advertising to blatantly and illegally sell their state benefits.
Our hidden cameras were rolling as a woman, who weÂ’ll call Lorie, told our undercover producer about her brilliant idea to game the system for a quick buck.
“Everyone said I was crazy, but I thought they’d say, ‘that’s freaking brilliant, man,’ ” she said.
Another man, who weÂ’ll call Joe, rolled up on a skateboard. He showed us his CalFresh card he illegally put up for sale on Craigslist.
“See, right now it still has $116 on it,” he told our undercover producer.
Rather than use that money for food like heÂ’s supposed to, Joe offered to sell us the card for just $60 cash.
“I just need the money right now,” said Joe. “I moved back in with my mom.”
He promised to give us his pin number so we could use the card to buy groceries in any store that accepts EBT cards.
Joe said stores donÂ’t check for any identification. He freely admits heÂ’s done this before for family and friends. He told us not to worry, because we wonÂ’t get caught.
Lorie doesnÂ’t even think what sheÂ’s doing is wrong.
“I feel justified in what I’m saying and what I’m doing,” she said.
She would use the cash for a car to get to work.
“I figure it this way, they’re already giving me the money, OK. I’m not making a profit. I’m not burning them. I’m not stealing from them,” Lorie said.
Not by a long shot, says Michael Weston with the California Department of Social Services.
“It’s against the law,” he said.
The CalFresh program is funded by taxpayers and serves more than four million Californians.
The annual cost of food stamp fraud nationwide, is three-quarters of a billion dollars. People attempting to buy or sell food stamps are breaking the law.