In early July 2025, claims circulated online that a man named Eric Brown Jr. hacked into the human services system of Hinds County, Mississippi, and approved all pending food stamp applications. The rumor further stated Brown was arrested for his crime and posted a $100,000 bail.
Internet users shared versions of the rumor widely across Facebook (archived, archived, archived), Threads (archived) and X (archived) with some users (archived) adding further details, such as that Brown "reportedly had new EBT cards mailed out to applicants with $2,500 loaded on each, and even credited existing cardholders with an extra $2,500."
Some iterations of the rumor included a Fox News logo and said in captions that the story would run on the network "tonight."
However, the claim that a man named Eric Brown Jr. hacked into the Hinds County Human Services system, approved all food stamp applications and was arrested for the crime was not based in reality but instead originated as satire.
Asked about the details in the claim, Mark Jones, chief communications officer for the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) told Snopes via email: "This is not a true story. If this were true, MDHS would have released a media alert, posted on social and announced any arrests through official channels like our website."
A search for "Eric Brown Mississippi" on the Fox News website, where the story purportedly ran, returned a story from February 2025 that featured a crime suspect by that name but was not related to the rumor in question. Hinds County websites were hacked in 2015 and 2023, but neither incident was related to an alleged MDHS hack.
Further, a search of the Hinds County inmate list and arrests from early July 2025 did not find anyone by the name of Eric Brown, nor did any credible news outlets report on this claim.
Similar claims have circulated
In 2019, the fact-checking outlet AFP Fact Check investigated the original circulation of the rumor and reported it originated with a social media user who said, in a now-deleted X post (archived) featuring screenshots of different fake stories he created: "Y'all I just make funny joke posts.. it's just for social media fun.. please don't take me seriously lol.. just like to make folks laugh that's all." The user's original Facebook post about the food stamp hacker, which did not include the name Eric Brown Jr., was available in archived form.
The same user posted a screenshot of his original post to Instagram (archived) on July 2, 2025, stating: "Folks steal my post every year since 2019 and replace my face and name. lol the real remember who did it first. I made that caption, background, all of it." The user confirmed to Snopes via Instagram message that he originated the story using his own likeness but did not create the image allegedly depicting Brown.
The purported image of Brown that circulated with most versions of the rumor in 2025 appeared to be generated using artificial intelligence (AI), according to AI detection platforms Hive Moderation and Sightengine, though it should be noted that such platforms are not always accurate.
(Sightengine)
A Google reverse image search of Brown's alleged mug shot only returned results that shared the rumor on social media.
This was not the first story about a benevolent hacker Snopes has investigated. Previously, we looked into the claim that authorities in Dayton, Ohio, fined and put on house arrest a 17-year-old high school student for hacking into the city's traffic control system to make the stoplights sync up.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous, parodical or satirical.