The Knesset's Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee held an emergency discussion on the scope of a scam which has, so far, led to tens of millions of shekels being stolen yearly from the elderly, new immigrants, and Holocaust survivors, a Knesset spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
The fraud, committed largely via telephone, particularly targeted Israel's Russian-speaking community, with scammers speaking in Russian. Experts present at the discussion warned that the scope of the scam is likely to intensify in 2025 through the use of artificial intelligence.
Acting Committee Chair MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) demanded the formation of an inter-ministerial task force to address the phenomenon, which is "expanding and harming hundreds of thousands of people," adding that "all relevant bodies must step up," the Knesset confirmed.
Approximately 100 million shekels were stolen in 2024, according to a representative from the Association of Banks in Israel, and a representative from the Welfare Ministry added that there had been a 20% increase in the number of complaints.
The scam "includes frauds involving banks and insurance companies, extorting money supposedly meant for family members during times of crisis," Beliak stated.
"The impersonators speak Russian on the phone and can provide personal details of the victims. The calls originate both domestically and from abroad. Data shows that 2,000 fraud cases involving elderly people were recorded, a quarter of whom were Russian speakers. In 2022, the damage amounted to 70 million shekels," he added.
"According to victims’ complaints, police response is inadequate, enforcement is lacking, and cases are quickly closed," he told those present.
Statements of other politicians, victims, finance experts, and lawyers
"Elderly citizens suffer from exploitation and fraud, and the phenomenon is increasing. The police told some elderly victims that since the calls came from abroad, they did not open cases," MK Tatiana (Tania) Mazarsky (Yesh Atid) added.
“Don’t just translate; bring someone who understands the language and mentality...It’s not just fraud by deception but a public feeling that police do nothing. Send cases directly to Russian-speaking investigators and maybe reduce the phenomenon,” MK Evgeny Sova (Yisrael Beytenu) stated. Yisrael Beytenu has a strong base among Israel's Russian immigrant community.
"My grandmother heard a voice on the phone pretending to be me," a relative told the committee, describing how her grandmother was scammed last Independence Day. "Then a person, as if taking the phone from me, told her I hit someone and I will go to jail unless she brings tens of thousands of shekels," she added.
"Shortly after, the same person entered my grandmother’s home and took her money bag. Grandma lives alone, this was her pension money, and now she has nothing. I will not have a home in Israel because they exploited my grandmother," she added.
Another testimony came from a daughter who recounted what happened to her mother a year ago, stating that scammers "deceived her mother for a long time using sophisticated means and swindled 250,000 shekels from her."
After the scam, her mother was also kidnapped in an incident that ended after Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) became involved.
An 83-year-old retired doctor also testified to the committee, stating: "A man named Pavel called me and said he stole 12,000 shekels from me. Later, people pretending to be from the bank security called and said they feared there was an insider helping the thief. They told me I had to hand over my credit cards to a courier."
"They told me to increase my credit limit, which I did, and 56,000 shekels were stolen, and later the theft rose to 94,000 shekels. I went to the bank and they canceled my cards. The bank told me it was my fault for giving them the cards and codes. I didn’t give codes. There is a detainee in jail who withdrew the money, and I approached the Bank of Israel. This gang stole from 47 people,” he added.
"We received disturbing reports of scammers calling the elderly and asking them to withdraw money without a card. This is something banks can effectively address—for example, by limiting cardless withdrawals for a certain age group," a representative from One Million Lobby Association, an Israeli-based lobby and NGO that promotes the needs of Russian speakers in the country, recommended.
"Anyone can be a victim, not just the elderly. These tools can be used to recruit spies as well. Most cases are not handled, and families and elderly victims lack the ability to gather evidence. Some feel shame that they were scammed," a lawyer present warned.
A national fraud officer also testified, stating: "We don’t know how to categorize complaints. There are many cases managed by fraud units...We are not ignoring this."
"Alongside investigations, we invest much effort in public awareness, raising red flags, and cooperation. The phenomenon is evolving via artificial intelligence...We hold forums with local authorities, distribute videos translated into Russian, and conduct at least one lecture weekly in Hebrew to help them understand," they added.
The Director of the Communications Sector Cyber Unit at the Communications Ministry, Zohar Ben David, stated: "The attacker will always be ahead of us, and we won’t eliminate the phenomenon, but we will reduce it."
The Communications Ministry "amended regulations regarding telecommunications following committee discussions and issued instructions to block numbers impersonating Israeli numbers. The regulation went into effect three months ago, and telecom companies reported tens of thousands of blocked numbers. There is cooperation with the police regarding complaints stemming from numbers impersonating Russia, and there has been a drastic decrease," Ben David added.
"I don’t know how many complaints we received on this topic. There has been an increase, and we expect the phenomenon to grow in 2025," a representative of the Bank of Israel testified.