HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) –The Virginia Department of Social Services is reporting that they have received notices of fraudulent text messages and phone calls targeting Virginia residents regarding EBT accounts.

The fraudulent messages may falsely claim that an EBT transaction has been declined or that suspicious activity has been detected on the recipient’s card. Recipients may be instructed to reply to the message or call a phone number to verify the transaction. Examples of the reported fraudulent messages include:

“Omnilert – VDSS EBT: An Order of $44.15 at Walmart using your EBT was declined. Reply Y if this was you. If not, call: 1-866-202-4567”

“VDSS EBT – A transaction of $34.15 at W-STR using your EBT Card was declined. Reply Y if this was you. If not, to speak to a representative, call: +1(866)202-4567.”

“Transaction alert from electronic Financial Services. Regard. This isn’t transaction alert from electronic Financial Services. Regarding your EBT card, we noticed some unusual activity. Please confirm if you placed this transaction.”

Recipients should not respond to these messages, call the numbers provided, or share personal, financial, or EBT card information. They should verify account-related concerns through the official EBT customer service phone number (1-866-281-2448).

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the VDSS EBT team at ask.EBT@dss.virginia.gov, or the Fraud Management team at Ask.fraud@dss.virginia.gov.