SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KGO) — As we’ve reported, millions of Californians received their Middle Class Tax Refunds on debit cards. Now, for the first time, the Franchise Tax Board is urging cardholders to withdraw the money off those cards as soon as possible — due to the threat of fraud.
It’s a stunning turnabout. More than nine million debit cards have gone out, loaded with about $5 billion of taxpayer money, one time payments meant for inflation relief. But hackers have taken a bite — officials won’t say how much — but they are urging cardholders to cash in the cards before scammers do.
Tom Koerber of San Rafael and his husband received a $700 debit card from the state to ease the pain of inflation.
But when they tried to use it, they found the money was already gone.
“The recorded message says, ‘You have zero balance.’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s odd,’ because we’ve never used it,” Koerber said. “I thought, well, we’ve been hacked.”
MORE: Here are the most frequently asked Middle Class Tax Refund questions
Koerber was even more surprised to see where the thief spent his money.
“All in Alabama. One at a Burlington Coat Factory, one at a Ross store, and one at a children’s hospital in Alabama,” he said.
Elizabeth Webb of San Francisco never got to use her card either. Someone drained the cash just days after she activated her card — as it sat in her kitchen drawer.
“We need to get boots, we want to get rain gear… I go to use the card, it says declined,” Webb said. “Wiped out my…
