“He took out a loan of 250,000 (≈$69,400) shekels in my name and managed to steal 130,000 (≈$36,100) from it,” Ariel (a pseudonym), a man on the autism spectrum from the Sharon area, told Shavvim after a loan was taken out in his name at the end of April without his knowledge and money began disappearing from his account.
“A man called me and said he was a Bank Hapoalim representative. He claimed my account had been hacked and he needed my username and password to fix it,” he recalled. “Suddenly I discovered I had a lot of money in my account and I did not understand where it came from. Then it turned out he had taken out a loan in my name for a quarter of a million.”
In a recording obtained by Shavvim, the impersonator instructs Ariel on how to “recover” the money. “You call them and then they call you back, you press 1 and it disconnects. It transfers the money automatically and solves the second problem,” the fake representative says.
Documents obtained by Shavim and held in its system show how the fraudster began making transfers ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of shekels to various individuals. At a certain point, the Bank Hapoalim branch handling Ariel’s account noticed suspicious activity and froze the account.
By the time the account was blocked, about 130,000 shekels had been taken and transferred to different accounts. Among the transfers was 14,000 (≈$3,900) shekels labeled in the recipient’s name with the stated purpose “birthday for a friend who helped me.”
In another transfer, 20,000 shekels were used to buy a car, and another 20,000 (≈$5,600) shekels were sent in three separate transactions also labeled for car purchase.
As if that were not enough, the impersonator continued calling Ariel and requesting his password, even after he changed it following the breach. “By the second time he asked, I already knew it was him, so I did not give it,” he said. In one instance, the fraudster told Ariel to download a car app and photograph his driver’s license, promising to return the money afterward.
“He said the money was with him and that he only needed me to photograph my license from both sides. I did it because I thought he would return my money, but the license I uploaded was expired so he could not use it,” he explained.
Following the suspicious activity, Bank Hapoalim froze the account, and Ariel has since been unable to use it at all, with all payments bouncing back. “I am in trouble with everyone,” he said sadly. “Electricity, Cellcom, Netflix, every bill I had simply was not paid.”
In recent weeks, the impersonator continued calling Ariel to extract more money, but after what happened, Ariel became more cautious and did not provide further details. “My phone already identifies him as a scam, so I do not answer, but he keeps calling nonstop,” he said. “When I did answer, he always tried to impersonate someone else. Sometimes a bank representative, sometimes security, sometimes a bank manager.”
After filing an online complaint with police a few weeks ago, he arrived at a police station the following day and submitted all documents. Ariel now hopes the perpetrators will be caught, the money returned and the offender brought to justice. “I am really desperate. All day I deal with returned payments because my card was blocked,” he concluded.
Police said in response: “Upon receiving the complaint, an investigation was opened and all necessary actions are being taken in order to reach the truth.”
Bank Hapoalim responded: “The bank regrets the incident the customer was caught in and is handling it thoroughly and with dedication in order to provide an optimal support package and assist accordingly. Unfortunately, criminal actors attempt to fraudulently extract money from citizens by impersonating various entities. In some cases, customers provide personal details to impersonators, click links or download software at their request, enabling remote takeover of their devices and personal information. The bank works extensively to reduce and eradicate the phenomenon and to compensate customers where appropriate and in accordance with the law. Do not provide verification codes or login details, do not click links and do not download software even if the caller claims to be a bank representative. In any suspected fraud case, report immediately to the bank and file a police complaint.”