ATLANTA, GA — The call center for Georgia’s food stamp program was hit with a cyberattack, the Georgia Department of Human Services confirms Friday.
DHS officials say the attack targeting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program occurred on Monday.
The call center is a place for EBT recipients to check their benefit status and account balance. It is run by Conduent, a contracted company.
In a statement, the company says they have deployed interim security measures in response to the spike in incoming calls, adding that they are encouraging EBT users to take advantage of a free app that allows them to lock their card between purchases.
During the attack on Monday, the interactive voice response call center for Georgia’s Electronic Benefit Transfer recipients suffered bots that were trying to infiltrate and access accounts.
In a statement shared with WSB Radio, the Georgia Department of Human Services said:
“Over the weekend, Conduent’s EBT IVR call center will be unavailable as the company continues its investigation. For security reasons, we are imploring Georgians to immediately change their PINs and lock them when not in use. Since Conduent’s call center will be down, cardholders can instead use the ConnectEBT website or app to monitor their balance, deposits, transaction activity, and select or change a PIN. ConnectEBT also allows customers to choose where their cards are locked – everywhere, including Georgia, or only outside the State of Georgia. We strongly encourage cardholders to take advantage of this feature. Additionally, the app offers an automatic lock feature after a specified amount of time determined by the customer.
Customers can download the ConnectEBT app on their Android or Apple device today from their device’s app store. Once the app is installed, customers can register a new account or log in using their ConnectEBT client website username and password. A “Locked Outside of State” card status allows transactions at online retailers. A “Locked Everywhere” card status denies all in-state, out-of-state, and online transactions.
We ask Georgia EBT cardholders to be vigilant about security to protect their personal information and benefits."
It’s not clear how many accounts may have been impacted due to the cyberattack.
WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien and Ann Powell contributed to this story.
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