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Updates for local agencies, community-based organizations, and providers who provide assistance to members of Wisconsin's health and nutrition public assistance programs.
Extra Security to Safeguard FoodShare Benefits
To help safeguard the integrity of Wisconsin’s FoodShare program and QUEST card account information and benefits, the Department of Health Services is proactively adding two QUEST card security enhancements:
- Blocking the use of many common, easy-to-guess PINs.
- Requiring the cardholder’s birthdate to help verify that an authorized user is accessing account information.
Encourage hard-to-guess PINs
As of March 20, 2023, FoodShare members are no longer be able to choose many easy-to-guess PINs. This will help prevent scammers who know and use these common PINs from stealing benefits.
Income Maintenance and Tribal Agencies will be talking to FoodShare members about the importance of protecting their PINs, QUEST card account information, and benefits from fraud. This will include encouraging FoodShare members to create unique PINs that cannot be easily guessed. Members should not create a PIN that uses their birthdate, birth year, or numbers that repeat (2222), are in a row (4567), or follow a specific pattern (1212).
Additional authentication
Effective June 27, 2023, when FoodShare members call QUEST Card Services at 877-415-5164, they will now need to enter the cardholder’s birthday. They will need to enter:
- The 16-digit card number.
- The cardholder’s birthday.
English: MMDDYYYY (month, day, year)
Spanish: DDMMYYYY (day, month, year)
Toolkit with outreach card and flyer
To help educate members and protect FoodShare benefits, we have created a FoodShare: Protect Your Benefits webpage that includes a Fraud Prevention Toolkit with a printable outreach card and flyer.
More information
Everyone is encouraged to report suspected FoodShare fraud to the DHS Office of the Inspector General at 877-865-3432 or www.reportfraud.wisconsin.gov.
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