Why is telephone fraud so common?
Telephone fraud can be carried out relatively anonymously.
If in the past, in order to defraud a person, you had to meet them, today it is possible to commit telephone fraud without even being in the same country.
Furthermore, technology today makes it possible to call from a confidential number or, in more sophisticated cases, scammers manage to present the recipient with a phone number that they may know and trust.
In more common cases, scammers use phone numbers that cannot be called back. In most cases, the telecommunications companies that provide the scammers with telephone services are completely unaware of the misuse of their service, and the customer who signs up for their service is a person being exploited by the scammers so that the scammers themselves cannot be reached. Even if they succeed in reaching the telecommunications company's customer, they will not necessarily succeed in reaching the scammers.
Telephone fraud allows you to reach a large number of victims in a relatively short time.
Today, two types of telephone scams can be distinguished: 1. Telephone scams organized by a gang of scammers; 2. Telephone scams usually carried out by a single scammer.
In the case of a gang of crooks, they usually operate an organized hotline of callers whose sole purpose is to call as many victims as possible (Telephone stingThese callers usually work in a very organized manner, according to a conversation script carefully prepared by professional scammers, with the aim of making it easier for the callers to obtain the requested information from the victims.
בחלק גדול מאוד מהמקרים כנופיות נוכלים מאורגנות שמפעילות מוקדים גדולים פועלות מחו"ל. במקרים רבים כנופיות אלה מנסות להגיע באופן ממוקד לדוברי רוסית. קל מאוד במקרים אלה להבין האם הטלפן מתקשר מישראל או מחו"ל אם פשוט מתחילים לדבר איתם בעברית. בדרך כלל טלפנים אלה לא יבינו מה אתם אומרים כי הם לא דוברים עברית (למעט אולי מספר מילים שלימדו אותם במיוחד לצורך ביצוע הונאה טלפונית).
The second case is of a single crook who usually chooses one or a few victims, sometimes from personal acquaintances or from targeted information that has come to him, sometimes by chance.
Telephone fraud is cheap.
שירותי טלפון היום הם דבר זול מאוד. מספיק להצטייד בטלפון סלולארי אחד וכבר ניתן להגיע לאינספור קורבנות. עלותו של קו טלפון סלולארי אחד נע היום, בדרך כלל בין 30 – 60 ש"ח בלבד.
אפשר לקנות היום בארץ ובחו"ל חבילות תקשורת בנות אלפי ועשרות אלפי דקות, במטרה להגיע למספר רב של לקוחות. העלויות של שירותי התקשורת ביחס לתועלת שניתן להפיק מהם, זניחות לחלוטין.
The chances of finding the person behind a phone scam are not always high.
הנוכלים מודעים היום שהסיכוי שיתפסו אותם לא גבוה, בין אם הם נמצאים בחו"ל ובין אם הם נמצאים בארץ. אם הם נמצאים בחו"ל ברור שמשטרת ישראל לא תגיע אליהם. אם הנוכלים נמצאים בארץ לא בטוח שמשטרת ישראל תטרח מלכתחילה לחפש אותם מכיוון שלעיתים יש לה דברים חשובים יותר לעשות, וכוח האדם מצומצם.
Even if the crooks in Israel are caught, there is a very high probability that the punishments they receive will not necessarily be deterrent or severe.
What does every telephone scam have in common?
Every telephone scam has one thing in common – the scammer or scammers are trying to get information from the victim that they are not supposed to receive (Receiving something fraudulently). If you are alert to anything suspicious in the conversation and do not give out the information, the scammer will not be able to harm you or defraud you.
In some cases, the purpose of telephone fraud is to Identity theft Or make you take part in the Pyramid scamThat is, the fraudster is trying to obtain information that will allow him to impersonate the victim in order to steal money or property from him.
Typically, scammers try to get the victim's credit card number in order to commit fraud. Credit card fraud, or access details to the victim's bank account for the purpose Transfer as much money as possible from the account. Without the victim's knowledge. In many cases, the fraudsters first take out one or more loans in order to transfer as much money as possible to other bank accounts, leaving the victim with the maximum possible damage.
Once the scammers gain access to these details, the victim may quickly discover that the financial damage they have suffered is enormous. This is precisely why telephone fraud is so effective and profitable for scammers.
How to deal with telephone fraud?
הדרך הפשוטה ביותר להתמודד עם הונאה טלפונית היא פשוט מלכתחילה "לא ליפול בפח". נכון שמדובר באמירה שקל להגיד אבל לא תמיד קל ליישם, אבל בפועל זה באמת לא כל כך מורכב.
First, you can follow the instructions National Cyber Command Which occasionally publishes guidelines on telephone scams and various cyber threats. The National Cyber Directorate provides extensive details on dealing with telephone scams:
again, It is worth following media publications.The more widespread a scam is, the more likely it is to be reported in the media.
Third, always be suspicious of people who contact you and ask for sensitive information such as bank account details, credit card details, passwords and login details, etc.
Who to contact if you have fallen victim to a phone scam
If you suspect that you have fallen victim to a case of telephone fraud, there are several parties you should contact as soon as possible to prevent further damage and to try to recover the funds stolen from you.
Contact your credit card company and bank
The first parties you should contact if you suspect that someone has tried to scam you over the phone or that you are an actual victim of phone fraud are your bank and credit card company.
It is important to notify the bank and credit card company and ask them to block the credit card and restrict the bank account from performing actions relevant to taking out loans or transferring funds to other accounts.
If you do not do this, you may very well be responsible for any action the fraudster takes on your account, including any amount of money transferred from your account to another account, or any amount charged to your credit card.
Contacting the Israel Police
It is very important to contact the Israel Police and file a complaint. In many cases, your complaint will not be processed and closed due to lack of evidence or for any other reason, but it is important to have documentation that you actually contacted the police in real time and filed your complaint. This may greatly assist you later with the bank or credit card company or if you decide to respond. Civil lawsuit or Financial claim Against the fraudster, and in some cases also against the bank or credit card company if they were negligent and did not handle your request properly.
Large-scale telephone fraud will also be addressed and handled by the police. In cases where there are many victims and the amounts of damage are significant, the Israel Police will allocate the necessary resources to locate the fraudster or fraudsters.
In these cases, it is very possible that the Israel Police will help you return some or all of your belongings. The stolen funds from you, or at the very least provide you with the identity of the fraudster or fraudsters so that you can pursue civil proceedings against them in order to receive compensation for the damages you have suffered.
Contacting a fraud and scam lawyer
Fraud and deceit lawyer He is a lawyer who specializes in various types of fraud, including telephone fraud. Typically, such a lawyer will handle telephone fraud cases where the financial damage caused to the victim is very significant (tens of thousands of shekels or more).
Before contacting a fraud and deceit lawyer regarding a telephone scam, try to gather all the information you have about the scam that is relevant to you. If you have a recorded conversation or conversations with the scammer or scammers, make sure to back them up because this is very important information that can be very helpful in locating them.
If you only have the phone number from which you received the call from the scammer – this is also important information that you need to present to a lawyer. Every little bit can help.
In some cases, a fraud and scam lawyer will recommend that you hire the services of a private investigator to try to locate additional relevant details regarding the identity of the scammer who committed the relevant telephone fraud against you.
In conclusion
Telephone fraud has become very common in recent years because it is easy to commit, can be committed from different countries around the world, is very cheap, and the risks are often as low as zero.
On the other hand, telephone fraud can harm a very large number of victims in a short period of time, and obtain data from them that can lead to very significant financial benefits.
It is not difficult to protect yourself from telephone fraud, and you usually simply need to avoid providing personal information, such as a credit card number or bank account details, to someone who contacts you and is not known to you.
If you have fallen victim to telephone fraud, you should immediately contact your bank and credit card company, and then the Israel Police and a fraud and deceit lawyer, to minimize your damages, and try to locate the fraudster so that he can be prosecuted and compensation can be claimed from him.
