EBT Card Scam Shut Down In Lynn
LYNN (CBS) - A year of police work paid off Tuesday in Lynn when officers shut down a long running scam.
Police moved in and shut down stores that they say were paying cash for food assistance cards and then turning them in to the state for money.
Police raided four Lynn mini marts that are suspected of fraud involving EBT, or Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. Steven Giles, a customer at the stores, says the scam is well known.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports
"It was pretty straight-forward," says Giles. "You need cash, come down here and trade your food stamps for cash."
During a yearlong investigation, undercover police say they discovered a scheme where stores not only bought EBT cards at half price, but also hooked up card sellers with crack cocaine dealers.
According to prosecutors, some of the stores did over half a million dollars in EBT fraud during the last 18 months alone.
