ROCHESTER N.Y. (WROC) — Brian Foster says because of gun violence he’s disabled and unable to work. So, he relies on monthly food benefits and other programs in order to survive, but an unexpected situation is getting in the way of that.

On October 2nd Brian Foster says he received his monthly snap benefit of $298 on his EBT card early that morning and decided to go grocery shopping but didn’t go home with a single item.

“Got to the register and was told that my card was declined for insufficient funds. There was only a $12 balance on the card,” he says.

 Foster provided us with a receipt of the list of things he attempted to purchase but couldn’t. 

“It’s kind of embarrassing. There are people behind you, and you have all this stuff now all this stuff had to get put back. It’s frustrating for me, it’s frustrating for the cashier, it’s frustrating for the people behind me and it’s going to be frustrating for a lot of people in Rochester,” he says.

Foster says immediately after leaving the store he called the number on the card to figure out what happened. 

He was told that a $279 transaction was made in decatur georgia that same morning. 

Foster says he has never been to Decatur before and that his card and pin number were secure with him at all times. 

“So, I went and filed a police report, went to West Fall Road DSS this morning to let them know what was going on to see if I could get some kind of relief and was told the system was hacked there was also a lot of other people with the same issue,” he shares.

We reached out to the fraud department and human services department in Monroe County but have not heard back yet. 

News 8 did receive a statement from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, and they shared some tips on what to do if you have dealt with scams, skimming, or fraud. 

They suggest you contact customer service immediately by calling 1(888)328-6399 or visit ConnectEBT.com.