Residents raise concerns about retail practices and EBT card fraud during Galt public comment

During public comment at the Oct. 21 Galt City Council meeting, resident Ken Lee urged the council and fellow residents to be vigilant about retail practices he said harm seniors and to guard personal information when signing up for government phone programs.

Lee said some retail registers do not show the ring-up screen to customers and that employees sometimes ask customers to take the receipt as the only record, leaving seniors uncertain what was charged. "Many of the retailers, the registers aren't displaying the ring up on the screen. So you don't know what you're getting rung up for," Lee said. He advised customers to ask for a supervisor and have the register switched if they suspect an error.

Lee also said solicitors signing people up for what he called the "Obama government phone" take pictures of EBT and medical cards on personal phones; he said fraud followed in some cases. "The solicitors will take pictures of your EBT card, your medical card on their private phone. These people don't stay on the job long... And so guess what? They have your information. Many of the EBT cards were hacked," Lee said.

Councilmembers and staff did not take action on the public comment during the meeting. Mayor Farmer and others acknowledged the comments and invited residents to contact staff or law enforcement if they have evidence of fraud. No formal referral or direction was recorded on the topic at the meeting.