Woman shocked to learn she only had 78 cents left on her EBT card after it was taken from a Jacksonville store

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – Two different people in north Jacksonville were surprised to learn that skimmers had drained money from their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards at different stores.

A skimmer was found at a gas station on Dunn Avenue.

Shannon Adams said her mother was a victim at that store.

“It’s like a pipeline: They get the money and funnel it to a store in Chicago,” Shannon said. Adams said his mother lost $500.

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Just over six miles from that gas station, Laquanda Griffin said her card was accessed at another store by the same company.

“We had something to drink, grabbed a few bags of chips and I checked it out. I spent about $14.55. Griffin said.

Griffin said a few hours passed and his mother tried to use her card to buy some groceries.

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“My mother calls me and I tell her: ‘Thank you God. She calls me to tell me she ordered the stiff,” Griffin said. “But she calls me to tell me there are 78 cents on my card. And I say no.

Griffin was confused to learn she only had 78 cents on her card when she expected $522 to be available.

“I felt so many different things. Because now here it is. I look at my child who was just at the store, picking up the things she wanted, and I had to leave them in the cart and walk out because someone had stolen from us. I felt useless,” Griffin said.

Griffin is now waiting for the Department of Children and Families to investigate before his funds are returned.

The accusations came from the same Chicago store.

New4JAX reached out to the stores for comment but did not immediately receive a response.