More than 9 million debit cards have been sent out to Californians who qualified for the Middle Class Tax Refund, sometimes called the inflation relief payment. Thousands of people have had their payments vanish, so how can you stop it from happening to you?
"This is our money," said Karrie Johnston, "He's giving us back our money and the money gets stolen."
Johnston says a few days after she got her debit card, hundreds of dollars just vanished. She told us she doesn't know how someone got into her account since she has the card and hasn't been able to get answers.
Johnston isn't alone. Other Responds teams in Los Angeles and Bay Area have also heard from viewers who say their money also disappeared.
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If you've seen the cards, you might have noticed a number of them look different from other credit or debit cards you might have — they're missing a security chip. NBC 7 found out there simply weren't enough of those chips in the country.
In a statement to NBC 7, the California Franchise Tax Board said: "During the competitive bidding process, which included FTB’s debit card vendor Money Network, we learned about supply chain issues that the service providers are facing with respect to chipped cards. The supply of chips was limited due to a nationwide shortage. Other interested vendors could not provide chips and/or did not include chips in their bids."
The FTB says there are other security systems in place to try to secure the cards and told NBC 7 that Money Network reports fewer than 1% of cards have been hit by fraud.
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"Any financial instrument, including a check, debit card with a magnetic stripe, or debit card with a chipm all have levels of fraud associated with them," said the FTB. "An in-depth defense strategy is needed to mitigate fraud, and no method is foolproof."
To prevent it from happening to you, make sure you withdraw the money or transfer it to your bank account as soon as you activate your card.
But if you're one of the tens of thousands of people who might have had money vanish from your account, what should you do?
- Call Money Network at 800-240-0223
- Enter your card number and PIN
- Select Option 1, the "Activate, Customer Service and Main Menu" option
- After your balance is announced, press 2 to continue
- Then on the next menu, press 6 for a "new or existing dispute" where you will be transferred to an agent to take the claim.
Even after your claim has been filed, it doesn't mean your money will be returned quickly. The FTB says it could take between 45 and 90 days to investigate cases of fraud. The board did tell us it ensures people will get the money they're entitled to.
