NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The money was there, and in a SNAP, it was gone.
Troyshella Randolph gets her electronic benefits transfer monthly payment of $693 on the seventh of each month, and sure enough it arrived in her account Tuesday morning. It’s part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
She went to a 7-Eleven on Jefferson Avenue and used her EBT card for a $40 purchase with no problem.
But later Tuesday, she went to buy some food at the grocery store where she works, “and it was saying zero balance, declined, and immediately I panicked,” Randolph said. “I was worried that I won’t have any food to feed my kids. I’m at work just freaking out and upset.”
She called the Department of Human Services where the city manages the SNAP program.
“They told me immediately that my card was involved in fraudulent activity,” she said, “which I didn’t understand, because with the cards, you have to have someone’s PIN in order to get their funds.”
Randolph completed paperwork and was told she couldn’t get the funds restored for 10 days, although she said she’s not confident her problem will be solved by then.
She says Human Services advised her to go to churches and food banks, but she has little time because she works full time.
“[They should] at least hand out vouchers, at least hand out some temporary fix for those 10 days,” Randolph said.
The city told us this is a state-level problem. A spokesman for the Virginia Department of Social Services in Richmond acknowledged 10 On Your Side’s inquiry that asked for an explanation and an action plan. Randolph said Human Services told her more than 300 other SNAP clients were also hacked.
“My question to them,” she said, “what are you expecting people to do when they get desperate for food? This is detrimental to my kids livelihood and to our health.”
