‘I woke up with a zero balance’, cries mother after account was drained in 4 transactions at the same time from a state she was not in

A MOTHER says she watched hundreds of dollars unexpectedly drain from her account after her card was used in a different state.

Shawntay Broggins of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said he was the victim of a scam that targeted low-income families.

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Broggins received the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to ensure low-income families can afford healthy foods.

The mother of 11-year-old daughter Kimiyah said hundreds of dollars of her SNAP money disappeared from her electronic benefits transfer card, according to the CBS affiliate KYW-TV.

“I woke up with a zero balance on my EBT card,” she said.

“What should I do.”

Broggins said he saw four transactions withdrawn from his account in an instant.

The mother added that she was particularly confused because the card was used in New York while she was not in that state.

“I’m not from New York,” she said.

“I never got out of bed to go to New York.”

“I’m trying to figure out how they went to four different stores at 9:18 in the same minute,” she added.

Broggins’ neighbor, Ada Hanible, also experienced a similar problem when SNAP money was taken from her account.

Hanible explained that he used his card, but the next morning saw that a $200 transaction had been made in Ohio.

“I’m very worried,” she said.

The state of Pennsylvania said it is investigating this scam.

Authorities added that they currently believe these may be the result of card skimmers collecting personal information.

Bank tips to avoid scams

As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important that you know how to identify them:

• Be skeptical of online businesses that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
• Scammers often use tactics to make you panic so that you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are asked to take immediate action and check who has contacted you.
• Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
• Never send money to someone you’ve only spoken to online or on the phone, as this is likely a romantic scam.
• Unless you know 100% who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
• Never accept help from strangers at ATMs and always be careful when making withdrawals.
• Do not send money or click on links that indicate you have won a prize.

Source: Chase.com

A card skimmer is a device that fraudsters use to collect credit card information.

They typically read a card’s magnetic stripe and are sometimes paired with a camera near the keypad to collect any PINs.

Broggins and Hanible visited the local welfare office for assistance, but the women must file a claim to get the money back, which can take more than a month.

State officials told potential SNAP scam victims to contact their local county assistance office.

SCAM SURVEILLANCE

Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated and creative in their criminal techniques, The US Sun previously reported.

Some scammers have even resulted in the creation of deepfakes using AI.

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