California recovers millions and curbs benefit theft with aggressive reforms: “Turning innovation into action”
California – California has cut down on theft of food and cash aid payments by a lot since it started using a number of new security methods that state officials believe are among the best in the country. State data shows that reported theft of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) benefits fell by 83% between early 2024 and late 2025. This was after years of escalating fraud that followed national patterns.
The drop comes after the California Department of Social Services and other state partners worked together to improve how benefits are secured and watched. In January 2024, California gave back almost $20.9 million to people whose EBT benefits had been stolen. The state pays for most of those reimbursements, which makes it even more important to eliminate fraud before it happens.
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Gavin Newsom said that the project is part of a bigger plan to make the government work better and make sure that help gets to the people who need it.
“In the fight against benefit theft, data is more than a tool—it’s a necessary partner. In California, we’re leading the way by turning innovation into action by stopping theft and ensuring benefits reach those who truly need them” Gov. Newsom said.
EBT cards are used to distribute benefits through programs like CalFresh, which is California’s counterpart of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and CalWORKs, which gives cash to families with low incomes. Counties pay back victims when theft is proven, but avoiding losses has become a top concern as cases have risen across the country.
The utilization of data science and predictive modeling is one of the biggest changes. CDSS worked with the Office of Data and Innovation to create a machine-learning model that can find potential CalWORKs cash theft with roughly 82 percent accuracy. Before taking action, staff examined the model. It lowered CalWORKs cash theft by 77% and the time it took to find fraud from two months to just three days.
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Security for physical cards has also gotten better. California was the first state to provide chip-and-tap EBT cards in early 2025. By April, about four million of the new cards were in circulation. Criminals find it tougher to steal information with skimming devices, which are often employed at compromised terminals, because of the embedded microchips.
Additional security has been put in place to protect accounts that have been hacked. Forced PIN resets, which were initially tried in March 2025, cut down on theft by around 80 percent for cardholders who had them. Since then, the program has grown to cover the whole state. The ebtEDGE mobile app and web portal have also been released, giving users the ability to freeze cards, stop suspicious transactions, alter PINs, and ask for replacements. Since its inception, millions of people have used it.
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State officials argue that working with the police has also been important. Since February 2023, investigations into EBT theft have led to 190 arrests and the recovery of hundreds of skimming devices. Officials argue that the threat is still there, but they say that the mix of technology, education, and enforcement has made families that depend on these benefits more safer.
