Hundreds of thousands of shekels emptied from 97 victims: The insurance scam of a couple in central Israel
An indictment was filed against a couple in their 20s from central Israel, suspected of impersonating insurance company representatives, obtaining cash withdrawal codes, and defrauding 97 victims of hundreds of thousands of shekels. The investigation was conducted by the Fraud and Cyber Crime Unit of the Central District, and primarily affected victims from the Arab community.
An indictment was filed today (Monday, August 24) against a couple in their 20s, residents of central Israel, suspected of impersonating insurance company representatives and defrauding 97 victims of hundreds of thousands of shekels. Alongside the indictment, a request was filed for their detention until the end of proceedings. The investigation was conducted in recent months by the Fraud and Cyber Crime Unit of the Central District, after dozens of fraud cases raised suspicion of a systematic scam method, which primarily affected victims from the Arab community. According to the suspicion, the couple contacted the victims while impersonating insurance company representatives, presenting accurate personal details to gain their trust. Subsequently, they claimed that funds from insurance accounts were available for withdrawal, and in this way obtained codes that allowed cash withdrawal without a card. Police suspect that using the codes, the two reached withdrawal points, among other things while riding a scooter, withdrew money from the victims' accounts, and left the scene within a short time. The two were arrested on August 9, and since then investigators from the Online Crime Division of the Fraud Unit in the Central District have conducted an intensive investigation. During the investigation, the affair expanded, and police linked, according to suspicion, 97 victims to the scam method. The couple's detention was extended from time to time according to investigation needs, and today the prosecution filed an indictment against them and a request for detention until the end of proceedings.