EBT Theft Reimbursements End for thefts occurring after Dec 20, 2024

EBT theft is a massive problem, but Federal safeguards have been in place to reimburse individuals and families when their benefits are stolen. There is a number you can call if your EBT card is lost or stolen, and upon investigation unauthorized charges to your EBT account may be reimbursed. This may be changing however as Congress failed to extend the reimbursement window for victims of EBT theft in the government funding bill passed on December 21st, 2024. This means there will be no reimbursements for stolen EBT benefits after December 20th 2024.

Is it possible reimbursements will come back?

It is possible, but not right away. The current Congress has ended and will pass no more laws. A new Congress will begin on January 3rd, 2025. When the new Congress is in session, they will have the ability to enact a law bringing back reimbursements. If they do so, they have the ability to make the reimbursements retroactive to any date in the past. We will post updates if anything changes.

In the meantime, what should you do?

In the meantime, if you lose your Ohio EBT card, you can call the Ohio EBT hotline at 1-866-386-3071. You can call this number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also visit the Ohio Direction Card website for more information. 

If your card is lost or stolen, you should call immediately to prevent unauthorized transactions, especially as these transactions may not be reimbursed moving forward. Customer service will deactivate your current card and you should receive a replacement card within 7 days. You can also select a new PIN when you receive your replacement card. 

If your benefits were stolen on or before December 20, 2024, you should be eligible for reimbursement. But because the government has not extended the EBT theft reimbursement window, there will be no reimbursements for thefts that occur after December 20th, 2024.

You can find more assistance related to government benefits by visiting our Social Service “Utilization Library” page.

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