Scammers have stolen nearly $5 million in recent months from Alabama families who receive food stamps.

In November alone, the Alabama Department of Human Resources received nearly 14,000 requests from families seeking reimbursement for funds stolen by scammers.

That’s a “significant increase over any other month in the past 18 months,” said Daniel Sparkman, deputy chief of staff at DHR.

DHR is asking families to beware of scammers and to report any theft or fraud immediately.

Melissa Prince, a Birmingham resident who supports her three grandchildren with her food stamps, said phone scammers first stole her benefits in October. She said the scammers pretended to be from DHR, telling her that if she did not enter her EBT card number and PIN, she would not receive her monthly payment.

“The call sounded just like the Department of Human Resources, like they duplicated it,” she told AL.com. “They just kept calling and I didn’t know what to do. The awareness just wasn’t there at the beginning.”

Soon after that scam call, she went to the store to get school snacks for her grandkids, but cashiers told her she only had a penny on her card.

“They wiped me all the way out,” she said. “I didn’t have any food for two weeks. I had to go to the food banks, churches, asked some family and friends. I just tried to make it the best way I could.”

Prince filed a police report and got a new card but she said it took about 20 days for a reimbursement to arrive.

She said she couldn’t buy Halloween costumes for her grandkids, and when scammers stole her money again in November, she couldn’t buy anything for Thanksgiving. She said the EBT app showed that her money was being used in stores in New York and Ohio.

“You have kids and babies that need to be fed and you are taking food out of people’s mouths,” Prince said. “It’s already rough, it’s already hard and it’s real greedy to be doing this to people.”

DHR says it is processing reimbursement requests for families who were impacted, as long as they filed a report within 30 days of the theft.

The state agency is advising benefits participants to avoid falling victim to scams and theft:

• Change your PIN often: Change your PIN at least twice a month, including right before your benefit issuance date and after each use if benefits remain.
• Avoid simple PINs: Do Not Use combinations such as 1111, 1234 or 9876 which are easy for others to guess.
• Keep your PIN and card number secret: Do not share your PIN or card number with anyone outside your household. Cover the keypad when you enter your PIN on a machine.
• Beware of phishing: DHR will never call or text to ask for your PIN or card number.
• Check your EBT account regularly for unauthorized charges: If you see any, change your PIN right away to stop the thief from making new purchases. Report suspicious activity to your county DHR office.

If you fall victim to the following types of fraud, you may be eligible for replacement funds, according to DHR:

• Card skimming (when devices illegally installed on credit card machines capture card data or PINs)
• Card cloning (when data captured by skimming are used to create fake EBT cards and then steal from households’ accounts)
• Other similar fraudulent methods (including scamming through fraudulent phone calls or text messages that mimic official DHR messaging and phishing)

The department is also asking retailers to check their card payment devices and scanners daily for signs of tampering or card skimming devices.

“We are asking the public to stay vigilant when shopping at retailers that accept EBT; if you see anything suspicious immediately report it to the retailer. These criminals are using sophisticated methods, and we ask retailers to work with us to shut these criminals down,” Alabama Department of Human Resources Commissioner Nancy Buckner said.

DHR said it is also working with federal partners to investigate thefts and implement new preventative security measures.

“This is a horrible situation for our clients who are already going through tough times,” Buckner added. “Our team is working hard to process reimbursement claims timely and get our clients some relief, but we need everyone’s help to stop these criminals.”

Location and contact information for all 67 county DHR offices to help process requests can be found here.