MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The owners of Cash Saver grocery stores in Memphis, Tennessee, say they are looking into claims that customers’ EBT cards were wiped clean after visiting some of their locations.
Wednesday, Castle Retail Group said they had been made aware of recent EBT card issues at their stores, and we’re working with their point-of-sale system to conduct an internal investigation.
NewsNation affiliate WREG received complaints from nearly a half dozen people who said they noticed the money was missing after shopping at the Madison Avenue and Elvis Presley Boulevard stores.
Memphis police said they were investigating one call they received in early August.
Ricky Monger said around $2,500 in SNAP benefits was stolen from his EBT card in April and August. He said he reported the theft both times to the Tennessee Department of Human Services and is still waiting to be reimbursed.
Monger said his card is only used at the Cash Saver on Madison. He said the card was used by someone in New York and Philadelphia.
“We get the stamps on the 11th. We went to use the card, and there was nothing on it. About $3 was on the card,” said Monger. “It’s very frustrating, and we’ve got five kids. I’m borrowing money to buy food.”
Dell Bledsoe gets $292 in SNAP benefits every month. She said on September 3, she used her card at the Cash Saver on Elvis Presley to buy a pack of chewing gum and a day later discovered most of her money was gone.
“I wasn’t feeling good, so I said, well if I had some Double Bubble gum so I could feel better,” said Bledsoe. “I checked my card. I thought it was a joke. They left $4.”
Bledsoe said it appears someone in Philadelphia stole her benefits. Bledsoe said she called the state’s fraud hotline and Cash Saver to let them know what had happened.
“I went up to Cash Saver yesterday and told everybody to watch out because somebody took all my food stamps off my card,” Bledsoe said.
In a statement, Castle Retail Group said:
“We apologize for the headaches this has caused to those customers, and we encourage customers who have documented lost benefits to this EBT criminal activity in our stores to contact us so we can make those lost funds whole. We will cooperate with any external investigations and work closely with the State of Tennessee’s EBT Fraud Department to resolve this issue to the benefit of any affected customer.”
Bledsoe said she is on disability and already struggling to pay rent and keep her lights on. She said she is still waiting to hear back from someone with the EBT fraud hotline to file a claim.
“I don’t understand how you get somebody’s stamps,” said Bledsoe. “It’s unacceptable what people are doing. They don’t care that you’re sick. They don’t care that you’ve got nothing. I don’t have anything.”
Over the past year, WREG investigators have been tracking an increase in EBT fraud and discovered Tennessee had reimbursed more than $900,000 in stolen SNAP benefits.
During the first two months of 2024, the Memphis Police Department said it handled 240 EBT-related cases but has not released any new numbers.
For information on preventing and reporting EBT fraud, click here.
