WA facing ‘alarming surge’ in EBT card scams

Washington residents on food assistance have lost $5.5 million to electronic benefit transfer — commonly known as EBT — card reader scams in the past two years. That’s according to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, which has tracked the scams since April 2022. The agency is taking steps to reimburse recipients for benefits they lose but described “an alarming surge in fraud.” It began tracking the problem after officials noticed an uptick in incidents and reports, said Norah West, the agency’s spokesperson. With an upcoming round...