Now THAT'S what I call bargain shopping!

Computer glitch (heard that before!) causes EBT spending spree. Imagine - 700 dollars worth of merchandise with a beginning balance of fitty cent on your EBT card!
Yes, that was from a different news source, but Google this and you will see similar reports.
Now I wonder - if the folks abusing the glitch were caught on camera, will they have reimburse WAlmart and other stores?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162...-sparks-walmart-shopping-sprees-in-louisiana/

I'm so glad hundreds of my dollars every month go into such reliable assistance programs, to help such fine upstanding citizens, who only want a hand up and not a handout!

Where's that sulfur smell coming from? Screw it! Keep paving!

So what were they buying? EBT is only for certain food right? IIRC that's why it is administered by the Department of Agriculture, so that the products people can buy are synced up with what we want to subsidize. Did the glitch also remove those restrictions?

That would go a ways in determining my reaction to both the customers and the store. I have a hard time getting upset about poor people going crazy b/c they can buy a lot of food. Kinda sad actually.

If they were loading up on Xboxs and TVs then that's a totally different situation, both for them and the retailers that allowed it.

Cause only poor people would take advantage of such a thing, rich people would never take advantage of government systems.

IIRC, EBT can be used for anything a store computer classifies as food.

Either way, I find it a little disgusting. On the other hand, I've never had to go hungry, so...

So what would the Richie Rich equivalent of this situation be? Avoiding tax loopholes? Receiving a government grant for your business and blowing it on sports cars and hookers?

You can only buy food with an EBT card and you can't buy deli food. If your grocery store sells hot fried chicken or Chinese or any kind of already cooked food like that, you can't get it...but you can buy any other food item.

Was it money on the food section only? Because EBT also includes General Assistance which is the cash portion.

On a side note. If this happened to your bank debit card you would have to give it back. The vendors would be paid but you would owe the bank back. Doesn't matter if they fucked up.

These people are thieives and animals. surprise surprise this happened in Louisiana. We saw this same type of crap after Katrina.

Screwing with banking regulations, tanking the economy, and then taking billions in bailout money seems to fit. I'd rather one of those people were arrested rather than all of these guys.

White guy pretty much center mass in the pic looks like Liam Neeson. And the guy to his right looks like Rob Reiner! WTF Hollywood?

My understanding is the glitch stopped all EBT transactions for a few hours, Walmart wanted to be nice and to not lose business so they independently decided to continue to accept EBT even though the EBT center was down, and that's when a few scumbags in one location took advantage of them. In two hours Walmart reversed its policy because they saw all the fraud which was occurring. The good news is Walmart says they have records of who committed fraud and said they will be turning the evidence over to the local police. Benefits fraud does carry a jail sentence and life time lose of benefits so in the end we might just have fewer scumbags on EBT and a few more scumbags in jail.

What will likely happen is that people who get EBT will be automatically deducted that amount over so many payments. So if someone had a dollar left on their EBT, and they "bought" $300 worth of food, their next EBT debit would be minus the $299. If they didn't get that much, it would carry over. Either way, the money will be accounted for.

Part of me says this is absolutely ridiculous, and these people should be ashamed of themselves, but the other part of me remembers what it was like not to eat for a week.

Not exactly. Maybe you should check the link. The transactions were not stopped by a glitch. Word must have spread that the food stamp amount had increased on all cards. The Walmart workers found out and queried management. They said don't worry about it. The card has to swipe and be approved. On the receipt the balance is shown. They saw that big balance and then went buck wild. You can't circumvent an EBT charge. That would be like a store allowing you to make a debit card purchase without having the funds in the account.

That is possible. But cost to pursue the those that overspent might be more than the cost of food bought though.

And Walmart only has a record of who shopped with an EBT card. They would have no way to pinpoint who overspent. They have no access to info concerning amount each cardholder is supposed to have.

I think very few of the people who participated in this were anywhere near starving.

In any event, anyone who overspent their limit should have the amount of the overage deducted from future payments. Bought $150 of ice cream and potato chips today? Go without $150 next month.

And don't cry me a river about it. EVERY SINGLE PERSON who participated in this did so in the hope they were getting something for nothing. They took advantage of the system (redundant, as the whole system is people taking advantage of the taxpayers) because they saw an opportunity to get free stuff AT SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPENSE.

I get that, though I don't think it was every single person. I've no doubt someone in there really was at the end of their rope, and this got them food even for a little while, and yes, they'll worry about their deducted EBT next month, but for the moment, their kid's stomach will have food in it. That doesn't make it right, not by any stretch, but I do understand regarding that small number that did it because they had nothing left to feed their kids. That's all I'm saying. The ones who did it because they saw a chance for "free" stuff? Fuck 'em. No excuse for that. In fact, that pisses me off, because it takes away from those who genuinely need the assistance.

Its quite common for anyone if they find money. And many here know nothing about Food Stamps and the EBT system. There are times when you do get extra funds. Now I know that many of those folks were getting over. But what exactly do you do? The folks that didn't hit Walmart are staring at a sum of money on their card and are puzzled as to what to do about it. Not everyone keeps the best track of those funds. And I highly doubt it was an unlimited amount. EBT works like a debit card. It deducts from a set amount. If for some reason it turned into a credit card, than various other people are also liable.

Hundreds of YOUR dollars, eh?!

You don't "find money" on an EBT card.

Gee, I dunno, maybe call the program hotline and ask if it's a mistake?

Look, if I go to the ATM tomorrow and the thing tells me I have $100,000 in my checking account that I damn well knew should rightly have $500 in it, I should not in any way feel empowered to go spend that money. Common sense should tell anyone that money comes from somewhere and that this isn't some magical gift.

Someone IS responsible for whatever flaw in the system allowed this to happen, but that doesn't change things: people who went on shopping sprees because their limit was no longer being enforced were taking advantage.

I knew Paladin would come back with that type of response. Call the hotline....sheesh! That sure tells me you know nothing about it. And you can get extra Food Stamp money on your card. It happens. For example, after Hurricane Sandy, people got extra money. They did not send out notices to all. The word gets around. But most saw the funds and were just thankful. I doubt any called to see if it was a mistake.

And as to finding money in your bank account. Well sure, if all you have is $50. But quite different for folks that have large sums of money. Remember, I work in banking. I have had clients that misplace hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its easy for YOU to keep track of the small money you have.

I love this. It really made me laugh out load!

Gee, wouldn't it be a swell idea to magically give everybody $2,800 a month?

Really? Why?

A quick Googling of "food stamp program hotline" shows hotline numbers for many (all?) states. The number in California is 1-877-847-FOOD. I bet that it's even printed on the back of the EBT cards themselves.

Why don't you check and let me know?

How much is the limit on an food stamps EBT card, anyway? My guess is it's a pretty small number and easy for anyone to keep track of...

Cause its the hardest thing in the world to get an actual person on line. Its mostly used for checking your balance via automated system. Or to find out where to go in your area to sign up.

Depends on the size of the family. A single person gets $200. The money rolls over every month. So if you don't use it one month, next month you will have $400 in the card. So a family could have up to $500 on the card.