The Brief

In May 2019, police entered a 12th-floor room at a Residence Inn near the Los Angeles International Airport and found various tools for credit card theft and duffel bags holding more than $930,000 in cash.

The room had been rented by Jawuan Gibson, who eventually pled guilty in Sacramento County Superior Court to grand theft and identity theft.

The case caught the attention of the California Department of Social Services. Gibson had been accused of sending mass text message scams to trick cash aid recipients into giving away their Electronic Benefits Transfer card information. He then stole their money, withdrawing the cash from duplicated cards.

At the time, the amount reported stolen from EBT users was in the tens of thousands of dollars a month — a small fraction of the millions the department sent out in cash assistance each month that year to more than 350,000 poor families. When recipients were victimized, they could generally get the money back, albeit with some delay.

But officials feared the case indicated more theft was coming. So in early 2020, the department came up with a plan to hire investigators specifically focused on EBT theft.

Separately, a group of county welfare fraud investigators said they asked the social services department to add security chips to EBT cards, a layer of fraud protection commercial bank customers had already been enjoying on debit and credit cards for years.

The state did neither.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit, and with it would come an influx of public aid and a tsunami of benefits theft that hit recipients of everything from stimulus checks to unemployment aid. The state, facing a potential economic downturn, in the spring of 2020 abandoned a $565,000 plan to bolster EBT theft investigations, according to Social Services’ public budget documents.

By the time the Department of Social Services quietly resurrected the plan two years later in April 2022, California was losing nearly $2 million a month to EBT thieves, according to figures released by the department. Now thieves were also stealing food stamps, a benefit used by nearly three million California households, and purchasing expensive items like pallets of energy drinks to resell.

Both cash and food benefits are largely federally funded, but California must pay out of its own funds to reimburse theft victims.

The delayed plan raises questions about whether the state missed an opportunity to stem the theft. The Department of Social Services said it responded appropriately with some security measures to the Sacramento County case, but that it only prevented scams, while theft skyrocketed thanks to fraudsters’ use of hidden devices to steal card numbers, known as skimming.

Between July 2021 and this March, taxpayers paid $87 million for this theft. Throughout the current fiscal year that began in July, the department is expecting to pay $178 million, according to budget documents.

In 2019 and 2020, lawmakers introduced a bill requiring social services to examine weaknesses in the EBT system for online transactions and come up with solutions. Both years the bill died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee via the suspense file process by which lawmakers kill numerous bills in one hearing without explanation.

When Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration committed this year to making California the first state to use EBT cards with chips, public benefits were being stolen to the tune of $10 million a month.

Chip cards, which payments industry experts say could significantly cut the thefts, would allow recipients to use EBT cards without being as vulnerable to their card numbers being stolen. The state has earmarked $50 million for the upgrades. The soonest those upgrades will go into effect is May 2024, at least six months from now.

Few policies in place to protect theft victims

Guadalupe Rosales found herself in a panic on a recent Saturday morning.

It was the second of the month, the day California typically deposits cash assistance onto the El Monte single mother’s EBT card. Rosales checked her account in preparation for a trip to the ATM. But the money, all $1,300, was gone, withdrawn by someone else at an ATM in another city.

Rosales relies on CalWorks, the state’s cash assistance program for poor families, to support her three children as they get back on their feet after experiencing domestic violence.

It was the second time Rosales’ benefits had been stolen. She had bills to pay and a car to fill up to take the kids to school. Her oldest son had senior portraits to take, and she could barely afford tickets to his football games.

Worse yet, it was Labor Day Weekend. By the time the Los Angeles County welfare office opened the following Tuesday for her to request a reimbursement, rent and utilities were past due. She’s since gotten the money replaced, but not before paying a slew of late fees and borrowing money.

“I feel like I’m in more debt than I was,” she said.

California initially appeared to be at the forefront of protecting public benefits recipients.

In 2013, the state began reimbursing welfare recipients who have their benefits stolen electronically. In 2020 it was the first state to extend reimbursements for victims of food stamp theft even if they didn’t lose their EBT card.

That’s the case for most EBT theft, investigators say. Victims are either scammed into giving away their card numbers, or the numbers are stolen through a method called skimming, which involves installing a hidden device at checkout counters, ATMs or gas pumps to record the card numbers of those who swipe the magnetic stripes.

In December 2018, the welfare fraud investigators association’s legislative and policy chairman Glenn Allen said the group met with Social Services leaders and asked the state to add security chips to EBT cards, but were told that would be “too expensive.”

“We told them, ‘You need to chip the cards now,’” Allen said.

Meeting notes provided by the association say the group’s then-president Guy Christian told officials including then-director Will Lightbourne that the cards needed security upgrades. Among the issues they discussed, according to the association’s notes: the department’s concern about growing “cloning/skimming of cards” and “the lack of sophistication such as ‘chipped’ cards.”

California Department of Social Services spokesperson Jason Montiel declined to comment on the meeting. He said chips were not considered prior to 2023 because earlier waves of EBT theft were primarily theft from scams, such as the one in the Sacramento County case. Skimming targeting EBT cards, he said, “did not fully emerge until fall of 2021.”

In the summer of 2019, the Department of Social Services gave a presentation at a national conference about the rising concern of EBT theft. It cited two cases — one in Sonoma County and the Gibson case, which was cracked by Sacramento County welfare fraud investigators and the Department of Justice, who teamed up to find patterns in the victims’ accounts and watch ATMs where withdrawals were being made.

A copy of the presentation, obtained by CalMatters, spells out what the department saw as the problem: Numerous state and federal policies designed to curb fraud in the welfare system were all directed at either the government or public benefits recipients. There weren’t enough policies to prevent “third-party fraud,” in which the recipients are the victims.

“The theft of benefits by those outside the system has not been a significant part of the welfare fraud prevention framework,” the presentation said.

The department recommended adding three-digit card verification value codes to EBT cards, strengthening the EBT call center’s security and limiting when PINs can be changed.

The following January, the department proposed spending $565,000 to hire four investigators to examine EBT theft statewide.

“These occurrences involving EBT theft could be mitigated using data analytics and may have been identified earlier if (the California Department of Social Services) had the staff dedicated to monitoring suspicious EBT transactions,” the proposal said. “Due to the lack of investigative resources statewide, including county, state and federal investigators, there is an operational need for California to employ its own investigators to prevent, identify, and help recover these significant losses of public assistance funds.”

In an emailed response to questions from CalMatters, Montiel said the social services department dropped the plan a few months later because of a projected revenue shortfall due to the pandemic, which prompted departments statewide to cut budget requests.

But the department did not resubmit the plan later that year when it proposed other new spending, or the following year when revenues came in higher than expected — even as it issued more benefits to recipients’ cards thanks to pandemic federal aid. Montiel did not answer why.

The investigative unit was proposed again in April 2022 and approved by the Legislature. Montiel said the team was created in March 2023, hiring a supervisor, two officers and an investigator. It’s currently “providing intelligence and support to local, state, and federal investigation teams and is assisting with detecting and deterring theft,” he wrote.

Gerry Bonilla, division chief of program compliance at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, said an earlier statewide effort could have helped counties.

Bonilla’s welfare fraud investigative staff primarily handle cases involving recipients getting benefits for which they’re ineligible, which he said “is not very widespread.” They investigate 800 to 900 of these cases a month, “most of which come back negative,” and look into them by parsing through each client’s income statements and other paperwork.

By contrast, Bonilla said anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 Los Angeles County residents now claim their benefits were stolen each month. In recent arrests, police point to organized crime groups with international ties.

“It would have certainly been helpful to have a team deployed to that,” Bonilla said. “Our investigators are not equipped to handle that type of investigation.”

Other investigators said they haven’t seen the department take a major role in theft prevention, despite many cases that cross county lines.

Heather Tallent, a board member of the California Welfare Fraud Investigators Association and supervisor of the welfare fraud division in the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, said she receives historical data from the state of ATMs where cards are cashed out, but less help with live surveillance of suspicious transactions.

“From what I can see, there's no proactive investigative response to skimming,” Tallent said. “I haven't seen it. And it's not necessarily a criticism, it may be a resource issue for (social services).”

Not everyone believes social services departments should beef up their law enforcement arms. The term “welfare fraud” is fraught among advocates for the poor, evoking 1990s-era stereotypes about people cheating to get public assistance that many anti-poverty organizations blame for burdensome bureaucratic hurdles for people to get aid and unnecessary scrutiny on recipients.

Earlier this year, advocates supported the state dropping a requirement for EBT theft victims to file a police report in order to get their benefits reimbursed, which welfare fraud investigators said was a bad idea.

Upgrades at least six months away

With a more generous social safety net than most states, California has been particularly hard-hit in the EBT theft wave.

Thieves who had initially targeted the simple debit cards of state stimulus check recipients moved on to the similarly vulnerable EBT cards, said David Babcock, a senior investigator on the L.A. County District Attorney’s Cyber Investigation Response Team.

“Some of these crews that were deploying these skimming techniques started to recognize that the only cards they’re gonna get successfully skimmed are cards without chip technology because people still have to swipe those cards,” Babcock said, calling EBT cards “the last cards without chip technology” in the state.

The social services department has been slow to release more detailed and up-to-date monthly tallies of the theft in response to public records requests from CalMatters, saying in September that it would not produce the data until December.

“These are the most vulnerable people in our community,” Bonilla said. “It’s really just mushroomed.”

In October, the county board of supervisors approved creating its own investigative unit in the D.A.’s office just to focus on this type of theft.

Chip card upgrades are more than six months away at the earliest.

In the meantime, the Department of Social Services said it will launch a mobile app this fall, ebtEDGE, that would allow cardholders to freeze their cards or block online or out-of-state transactions.

Until the chip cards arrive, local departments have shifted staff to process a flood of reimbursement requests while recipients try to remain vigilant, changing their PINs and checking their accounts. The state this year has also budgeted more than $30 million in administrative funding for counties to process reimbursements.

Federal rules also in play

In June 2022, the department added the three-digit CVV codes, which Montiel said cut scamming theft by 90%. It was no match against skimming, and overall benefits theft has only skyrocketed since then.

Chips have been developed since the 1990s and were common in Europe before being widely adopted in the U.S. eight years ago. That’s when the card companies Mastercard and Visa set a deadline for American banks to issue chip cards and merchants to accept them, or bear the liability for theft and fraud.

Though credit card fraud still happens, Jason Bohrer, executive director of the payments industry group Secure Technology Alliance, said it’s largely done by getting access to users’ accounts online through methods far more sophisticated than skimming. Adding chips to credit cards in the U.S. has nearly eliminated fraud that takes advantage of users’ physical cards, he said.

Other California departments have already taken the security measure. In 2021 the Employment Development Department said it would start rolling out chip cards for unemployment benefits recipients.

But no state yet puts chips on their EBT cards. Payments experts say it’s always been a cost-benefits consideration.

“Until the cost of the fraud outweighs the cost of issuance, there's not a lot of incentive to make the transition,” said Tracy Kitten, director of fraud and security at the financial security firm Javelin Strategy & Research.

Federal regulations direct states to use a payments industry standard that limits the delivery of food benefits to cards with magnetic stripes only, Montiel said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and California are working to modify the restrictions to allow for chip and tap cards, both departments said.

There are also back-end technological upgrades needed before chip cards are rolled out, because EBT transactions run through different systems than commercial banks.

“Incorporating chip cards requires significant changes to the underlying infrastructure on which the EBT system is built,” Montiel wrote. “Without these underlying, back-end technological upgrades, a transaction using a chip/tap EBT card would fail.”

In one other response to the theft wave, California fell behind.

A year ago, Congress passed a spending bill to reimburse states for paying recipients back up to two months of stolen food benefits. California pays theft victims back, but only for one month.

California in October became the last state in the country to get its reimbursement plan approved by the USDA. Other states had been approved as early as February. The federally-paid plan goes into effect in California in December. Neither federal nor state agency would explain what caused the delay.

It’s frustrated recipients like Marshall Epstein who have been victims of theft multiple months. Epstein, a Los Angeles resident, said he had $1,400 worth of food assistance funds on his EBT card when it was skimmed earlier this year. After filing a report he only got about $200 back.

He scans the news frequently, waiting to find out when he’ll get a card with a security chip.

“I'm not looking for extra money, just to get my benefits back,” he said.

A refrigerated warehouse operated by Lineage Logistics has burned in Boyle Heights for nearly a week. Public health officials are urging residents nearby and downwind to protect themselves from the smoky air.

But what exactly is in the air is still unclear.

Authorities say they’ve cleared the most hazardous materials — ammonia and lithium-ion batteries — from the fire zone. A spokesperson for the L.A. Fire Department said foam insulation, wood pallets of food, and solar panels on top of the 500,000 square-foot building continue to smolder.

Materials including plastics, electronics and even rotting meat are likely burning, which means the pollution particles emitted “tend to be highly enriched with toxic organics, toxic metals, that are above and beyond what just normal, day-to-day air pollution would look like,” said UCLA air pollution researcher Yifang Zhu.

She said air quality indexes may capture the concentration of particulate matter in the air, but not necessarily the specific toxins in them.

“You'll have almost like a double jeopardy in a sense that the levels [of particulate matter] are higher, and the toxicity is also higher,” she said.

Measuring heavy metals or volatile organic compounds requires special monitoring equipment, Zhu said.

“It’s very difficult to measure,” she said.

But she suspects at least some types of health-harming heavy metals are likely to be in the smoke.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado on Monday called for more specifics about what is in the smoke.

People “shouldn't have to guess about what they're breathing or rely on rumors, scattered information and updates, and incomplete information,” she said at a news conference. Jurado, whose council district includes Boyle Heights, added that data from regulators, such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District, should be released in clear, understandable language in English and Spanish.

The South Coast AQMD told LAist before Jurado spoke that the agency has monitors that measure particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, but not other types of pollutants. The agency said it has set up additional monitors at Eastman Avenue Elementary and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School. The agency added that the Environmental Protection Agency is also monitoring air quality at the fence line of the facility. LAist has reached out to the EPA for details.

Zhu added that even when the fire is eventually put out, the cleanup can kick up even more pollution — a lesson learned through her research after the L.A. fires.

“ I think people really need to take precautions,” Zhu said, emphasizing that those closest to the fire and downwind should avoid being outside as much as possible, keep windows closed, run a HEPA or MERV 13 air filter, and wear an N95 or similar mask otherwise.

UC Irvine toxicology professor Michael Kleinman said if thawed meat is also burning, that could lead to further toxic gases being released.

Experts urged precautions, especially if you smell smoke.

“ For people who are very close to the fire, like the firefighters themselves, they have exposure to both particulate matter and potential toxic gases, and that's why you'll see them wearing respirators,” said UC Irvine chemistry professor Suzanne Blum. “But once you're some feet away from the building, then the primary concern is the particulate smoke that is coming from this fire.”

As the Boyle Heights warehouse fire burns into its sixth day, SoCal residents are increasingly concerned about the air quality and potential health risks that come with breathing in the smoke. So, what alerts have been issued so far and how can residents be prepared?

Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on Saturday, a designation that helps California coordinate with local agencies to make sure there are enough resources for the firefight and residents who have been affected after a fire started at a cold storage industrial facility. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said at a press conference Monday that  the county is "delivering supplies, air filters, and air purifiers" to local households.

Los Angeles County public health officials and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) also issued a particle pollution advisory that remained in effect until today. Affected areas included: Central Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley, East San Fernando Valley and Northwest San Bernardino Valley.

Although recent air quality readings appear as “moderate” to “good” on South Coast AQMD’s website, the fire is still burning and might be for a few more days.

So what can SoCal residents do to protect themselves?

If the air quality index reads “good” or “poses little to no risk” in some areas, hazardous ash can still be present. If you see ash on your car, or windowsills, you might want to stay inside if possible. In “moderate” or yellow zones, unusually sensitive people are also recommended to avoid longer periods outside.

In the next few days, some might notice windblown ash floating in the air or coating outdoor surfaces. These particles are otherwise known as “fine particulate matter,” which consists of soot, burned plastic and perhaps even traces of the spoiling frozen food from inside the warehouse.

Why that matters

Too much exposure from these materials may cause temporary irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. If you suffer from health issues that are exacerbated by poor air quality, like respiratory illnesses, you may be affected by these conditions even more.

Four expert tips to protect yourself and your family:

• If you smell smoke or see ash, try to remain indoors with the windows closed. If you can’t, consider stepping outside with an N-95 mask, and refrain from engaging in any rigorous physical activity. 
• In your homes, also avoid using whole house fans (air conditioning is okay), as they can bring in the polluted air from outdoors. 
• If you have an air purifier, this is the time to use it. 
• Avoid using fireplaces, candles and vacuums, as they can introduce toxins into the clean, indoor environment.

For more guidance on precautions following the fires, visit Los Angeles County’s public health website for more. South Coast AQMD’s website also has more healthy and safety tips.

Updated June 22, 2026 at 16:22 PM ET

Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi has broken the record for most World Cup scoring.

Messi made the record goal, his 17th, during the first half of Monday's game against Austria. It was a heated match. Austria attacked relentlessly, and Argentina relied on its defense and on goalkeeper Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez. And, near the end in stoppage time, Messi scored again, finishing off at 2-0.

The team captain started off the World Cup with a bang: in the opener against Algeria, Messi scored a hat trick: three goals. A rare feat in soccer. He has scored all five goals for Argentina this World Cup. With the win, Argentina advances to the knockout round.

Messi hails from the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, an area known for producing excellent players. He faced challenges at an early age: he had a hormonal growth deficiency, which was difficult to treat in his hometown, given the severe economic crisis facing Argentina in the late 1990s. By 2001, the Messi family had decided to accept an offer for him to join La Masia, FC Barcelona's youth academy, in Spain. Messi was 13 years old.

It was at Barca that he rose to fame and developed his unique style of walking the pitch, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to jump on the ball, dribble skillfully past his opponents, and score.

Argentina's Lionel Messi, now the all-time World Cup scoring leader, celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 group match against Austria.

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Although a legend of Barca and European soccer, he often expressed a desire to play for the Argentine national team in a World Cup. He got his chance in his 20's, but it wasn't smooth: he was widely seen as a foreigner who had not paid his dues in the Argentine soccer system. His measured, calculating style of play was often misunderstood in South America, where players tended to have a quicker, more aggressive technique.

There were several World Cup attempts that were disappointing, and after the 2016 World Cup, he announced he would not be playing again. "It's over," he said outside the locker room, visibly shaken. "I tried so hard, it is unbelievable, but it hasn't worked. Me and this team are through."

The tides turned under the leadership of Argentine Coach Lionel Scaloni, and Messi led the team to a Copa America victory in 2021. Argentina won the World Cup the following year.

This is Messi's sixth World Cup and he's considered one of the best players in soccer history.

Messi also surpassed Brazilian superstar Marta, who had scored 17 goals at the Women's World Cup.

Copyright 2026 NPR

More than two dozen state historic parks are free through the end of the year in honor of Juneteenth — and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the free “special edition Historian Passport,” which typically costs $50, as a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s attempts to “rewrite the past,” according to a news release by the governor’s office.

Since his inauguration, Trump has ordered staff working at all National Park Service locations to remove any content that casts Americans in a negative light from parks, monuments and memorials.

“California doesn’t hide from hard truths and uncomfortable history — in fact, we embrace it and learn from it,” Newsom wrote.

Until July 6, Californians can download the state historic park pass for free and use it as many times as they want through the end of 2026. The pass gives free entry to state historic parks for up to four people.

The Historian Passport grants entry to more than 30 state historic parks, including parks like Olompali and Malakoff Diggins which, rather than just providing outdoor recreation, also have an educational emphasis on the state’s history.

Jack London State Historic Park in Napa Valley, California.

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Many of these parks tell the story of the state’s cultural or indigenous history, from missions and museums to temples and the site that sparked the California Gold Rush.

Newsom made a similar move to make state parks free for Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, in response to Trump’s decision to eliminate the holiday from the list of fee-free days at national parks across the country, replacing it with his birthday on Flag Day.

How to get your free Historian Passport for up to four people

You must make an account with the state’s reservation site ReserveCalifornia.com to obtain a Historian Pass. Then, visit the site’s Advance Passes page and select “Special Edition Historian Passport” from the dropdown menu, which will show as costing $0. No payment information is required.

After checking out, you’ll receive an email with an attached PDF version of your Historian Passport.

The state recommends you print off this PDF to present at any California state historic park for free entry, although you may just be able to show the image on your phone too.

Bear in mind that cellphone service may be poor at many state historic parks, so it’s worth screenshotting the PDF to save it as an image on your phone in case you’re unable to search your email.

Looking for free entry to other state parks that aren’t included in the Historian Passport? Consider checking out a parks pass from your local library, which provides these passes as part of the California State Library Parks Pass program.

KQED’s Carly Severn contributed to this report.