Criminals Impersonate National Insurance Representatives to Scam Elderly Immigrants in Israel

Between March and mid-May, Israeli police received over 400 complaints of scams targeting elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, involving fraudsters impersonating sales agents, police officers, and recently, National Insurance Institute (NII) representatives. These criminals exploit personal information to gain victims' trust and extract tens or hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Sofia Reznik, a fitness coach from Petah Tikva, reported that her 82-year-old mother was scammed out of approximately 6,000 shekels after a woman claiming to be from the NII called and later visited their home, convincing her mother to hand over 2,000 euros and a credit card with its PIN. Despite filing a police complaint, the case was quickly closed without resolution. Reznik suspects the personal data leak originated from a new caregiving company handling her mother’s care.

Another recent case involved a woman named Yana whose mother received multiple suspicious calls from Russian-speaking individuals posing as representatives from various organizations, including the NII. When asked for her NII code and advised to keep 24,000 shekels at home for emergencies, Yana’s mother recognized the scam and contacted the NII to change her code. Yana now monitors her mother’s bank account and advises caution.

Police acknowledge the issue and emphasize ongoing efforts to prevent such frauds, urging the public to adopt advanced technological tools to detect suspicious activity. The NII stressed that its employees do not visit homes without prior arrangement and encouraged citizens to verify identities through official channels.

Social activist and current member of the "Yashar" party, Alex Reef, criticized the state’s inadequate response, describing elder scams as a national epidemic with insufficient police resources to address it, leaving victims without restitution.