‘It’s disheartening’: Nearly 1K Kansas EBT cards impacted by recent skimming fraud

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) confirmed Friday that three skimming devices were found in the Kansas City, Kansas, area as many s lost access to their funds in recent weeks.

According to a release from DCF, suspicious activity was first discovered on Jan. 30, 2025, when out-of-state phone numbers began calling in balance inquiries for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. Its team began investigating the calls and ultimately found skimming devices placed in three Kansas City, Kansas, businesses.

Although the exact locations cannot be publicly released, employees at all three locations are reportedly cooperating with local law enforcement in their investigation.

In response to the discovery, DCF shut down a number of cards and started the process of issuing new ones.

According to the department, “These cardholders will automatically have a replacement card loaded with their benefits mailed to their homes. Their new cards should arrive 5-7 business days after their original card was canceled.”

DCF stated that approximately 830 cardholders were protected from fraud by their actions, saving $369,532 in benefits from being stolen. It also confirmed that the benefits of 162 card were stolen, amounting to $38,653.90.

Residents whose benefits were stolen are unable to recover their benefits, according to DCF.

“A federal provision that provided federal funds to replace SNAP and TANF benefits stolen through card skimming, card cloning and other similar methods expired on Dec. 20, 2024. It was not extended with the 2025 American Relief Act. At this time stolen benefits cannot be replaced and there is not state funding available to replace stolen benefits,” the statement explained.

DCF Secretary Laura Howard expressed her disappointment in the situation.

“It’s disheartening that there are people preying on some of the most vulnerable Kansas — children and the elderly — and are stealing the money they depend on to put food on their tables,” she said.

In their release, DCF shared precautions that they “strongly urge” all EBT s to take to help protect against fraud.

“We strongly encourage all EBT cardholders to use the ebtEDGE app from DCF’s EBT contractor, Fidelity Information Services (FIS), or access the ebtEDGE Cardholder Portal at ebtedge.com to monitor their daily and help safeguard their benefits by freezing their card and blocking out-of-state and online transactions when they’re not using their card, and frequently changing their PIN.

If a cardholder suspects suspicious activity with their card, they should immediately change their PIN and request a new card by calling ebtEDGE Customer Service at 1-800-997-6666, online at ebtedge.com or by using the ebtEDGE app.”

For more information on protecting against EBT fraud, visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s website.

ALSO READ: Authorities identify man shot, killed after exchanging gunfire with Independence officers

Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.