Several people report EDD cards being stolen

LANCASTER, Calif. - Times are tough and money is tight for so many. Now, imagine waiting for unemployment benefits, only to realize, the EDD card was stolen and your money is gone.

In better times, the Shadez Salon in Lancaster was busy and fun; but all the fun is gone since the Stay-at-Home order was issued. Salon owner, Amber Powell, was forced into a different kind of busy. 

“I was on hold yesterday from 12:30 p.m. to 8:30 at night,” Powell said. 
She sent two days holding on the phone… trying to determine where her EDD debit card was. 

“So you don’t know where your card is, when it’s coming, when to look out for it. The only way you can activate online the information about your card is if you have your card number, which you don’t get until you get the card,” she exclaimed. 

Powell only investigated her missing card when a fellow salon owner posted to social media that her card was likely stolen from her mailbox. 

Lupe Rightmyer owns Luminous Nails in Lancaster; she too has spent hours on hold with the bank. 

Once the bank finally picked up, they told her that her debit card was already activated. 

In total, there may be $5,000 in benefits missing from her card. 

“I was going to use part of the unemployment to help pay for the rent that I owe on my lease for my salon. I guess we’re going to have mandatory things we have to have in place, I was going to use that money to upgrade the salon,” Rightmyer said. 

Lily Avalos’ experience wasn’t that bad. It only took a couple of days to get a replacement card for her father and of course the funds were restored. 
             
 “We were just kind of shocked, ‘cuz when we got his card we had to put in a social security number.  So we were just surprised how do they activate his card, not having that information,” Avalos said.