Thieves who looted welfare recipients' cash sought

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Federal and state investigators are trying to figure out who stole welfare benefits from hundreds of California's neediest families by compromising a system in which the state places those benefits into debit-card accounts, The Chronicle has learned.

In the first days of the new year, the thieves gained access to recipients' card numbers and pass codes before draining their accounts - which had just been funded - during a blitz of ATMs around Los Angeles County.

The victims, parents who live throughout California, use the state's Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which simplify the payment of cash assistance to 1.6 million people and their dependents.

The state Department of Social Services and the U.S. Secret Service, which is leading the investigation, declined to comment on the case Thursday. The company that the state hired to operate the system, Affiliated Computer Services, a subsidiary of Xerox Corp., also would not comment.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/28/BAEQ1HF5TG.DTL

[virgogal]

1. They are the lowest of the low.

[alp227]

2. the comments after the article consider the victims the lowest of the low.

Pushing those "welfare queen" and "poverty pimp" stereotypes.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. SFGate has a steady cadre of right wing idiots who post in the comments.

IMHO many of the trolls there couldn't find San Francisco on a map.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. I agree

The lowest of the low

[Turbineguy]

3. The IT guys at

Goldman Sachs?

[cutlassmama]

4. wondered the same thing

[SharonAnn]

5. Isn't it J. P. Morgan that provides the "debit card services" for these?

[DBoon]

6. republicans?

looted welfare to pay for tax cuts?

[dkf]

8. Isn't this like any other debit card theft?

Doesn't the bank have to eat it?