Benefits are delivered on an Electronic Benefit Transfer card. It looks and behaves like a debit card: the balance sits in an account, the card is swiped at the till, and a PIN authorises the transaction.
Food assistance and cash assistance can sit on the same card in separate purses. Food benefits can only pay for eligible groceries; cash benefits can also be withdrawn at an ATM, usually with a fee after the first few withdrawals in a month. This page is a plain-language guide. Applications, eligibility decisions and case questions are handled by the State of Florida through its own official channels.
Card skimming at store checkouts has become the main way benefits are stolen. A few habits remove most of the risk.
Change the PIN regularly
Especially just before benefits are due to load, since stolen card data is worthless without a current PIN.
Never use an obvious PIN
Not a birth year, not repeated digits, and not the same PIN as a bank card.
Look at the card reader
A skimmer is a part that sits proud of the machine, wobbles, or does not match the rest of the terminal.
Check the balance often
Theft is usually noticed at the till, days after it happened. Checking after each load makes it visible sooner.
A lost or stolen card should be reported straight away so it can be cancelled and replaced; the benefits themselves are not lost with the plastic.
If the balance is wrong, the state's own customer service is the only place that can look at the account and start a claim. No third-party site can check a balance, replace a card, or restore stolen benefits — anything offering to do so should be treated as a scam.