Worrying: 74% of Israelis have experienced financial fraud or attempted financial fraud, 47% of whom are over the age of 3.
This is according to a new survey carried out by the Geocartography Institute for Bank Leumi.
Fraud attempts via text messages are the most common - 56% of Israelis have experienced fraud or attempted fraud of this type.
The survey also shows that 27% of Israelis have experienced fraud over the phone, and 19% of them are adults over the age of three.
The phenomenon of "phishing" - attempted fraud through impersonation on the Internet or on the phone - has expanded in recent years in Israel and around the world.
The phenomenon is mainly characterized by attempts by hostile parties to obtain private information by sending SMS messages or e-mails with a link to fictitious websites, with a request to update the username and password of the bank account or with a request to receive an identity card number or credit card information.
Russian speakers on the hotline
Recently, there are even more and more fraud attempts through the phone as well.
Seniors are a main target for "phishing" attempts.
In addition to this, in recent months Russian speakers have been suffering from sophisticated fraud attempts that are carried out in the Russian language, when the callers present themselves as bank employees and claim that a transfer of funds abroad made from the account has been blocked. Often they also specify a certain amount and say where the transfer was made. In the following conversation, a caller " Police representative" and the goal is to find out the bank account details and passwords.
Unfortunately, phishing phenomena are not completely handled by the police, among other things due to the large number of cases and lack of manpower.
Thus, the phenomenon of fraud among Russian speakers has been known to law enforcement for months, but it has not yet been addressed.
In light of the expansion of the phenomenon, Bank Leumi established a financial safety center for senior citizens, which will be launched today.
This is the first initiative of its kind in the banking system in Israel.
Customers will be able to report phishing attempts, and the hotline representatives will give applicants targeted instructions on how to deal with any suspicions that arise on the subject.
Alongside this, Leumi customers will be able to receive mobile alerts on suspected fraud attempts.
Also, a dedicated website will be launched with dedicated guides and the possibility to register for workshops that will give customers tools to deal with fraud attempts.
The number of Leumi's dedicated hotline is *5360, and it operates on Sunday-Friday.
provide full support
Keren Tairi, the VP of Human Resources of the faith in the field of social responsibility: "We decided to invest resources in maintaining the financial safety of senior citizens.
We are the first in the financial system to offer customers a package of dedicated services that will help them cope in an optimal way."
Safety rules against financial fraud
Keep your username and password in a safe place.
Beware of suspicious links by phone or email.
Do not give the account details to the banker, unless you initiated the call.
If you use another person to perform any actions, be sure to enter the secret code to perform the action yourself.
A code sent from the bank is not passed on to anyone - the code Intended for personal use only.
Regularly monitor the activity in your account. If you saw an operation in the account that you did not perform, report it to the bank immediately.
A request to withdraw funds from the account and transfer them to accounts abroad is a suspicious request!
Pay attention to calls from alleged representatives of the bank, credit card company or the police who speak a foreign language.
Ask the representative to speak in Hebrew or hang up.
Hang up calls in which you are pressured or threatened, and report to the bank's hotline or to a family member who can help you.
Claims that there is a police investigation are a warning sign.
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