Exploiting identity
Stolen or fabricated identity details used to seek a loan, mortgage or bank account. The attacker enters through the front door with an ID.
Your identity is worth a lot of money. The question is: to whom?
A NIS 1.2 million mortgage on their home, without a single signature
Suspected digital-identity fraud: using AI and stolen identities to open bank accounts
The SIM swap: how a phone number became the key to a bank account
A forged temporary licence, two loans and vehicle finance: an identity-fraud case from Texas
One step away from $2.9 million: the fraud that began with a land-authority letter
Impersonating authority
The scammer claims to represent a bank, card company, the police or a government body. People tend to comply with someone who sounds official.
"Your account has been hacked": the anatomy of bank impersonation
Your loan is approved, just one small payment: the anatomy of an advance-fee loan scam
The money taxi: the courier collecting the cash was booked through an app
The fraudster does not break down the door. They get you to open it
Controlling the channel
The other party chooses the phone, message or website, and therefore what you see. Verification takes place in the channel they selected.
"Your account has been hacked": the anatomy of bank impersonation
The SIM swap: how a phone number became the key to a bank account
The Telegram trap: a date that led to extortion of more than half a million shekels
A forged temporary licence, two loans and vehicle finance: an identity-fraud case from Texas
Professional preparation and infrastructure
Fraud built as a project: documents, companies and official paperwork. Each step looks ordinary; together they make a request look clean.
NIS 44 million raised using forged documents: the anatomy of a property-investment fraud
One step away from $2.9 million: the fraud that began with a land-authority letter
The front person
A deal is in one person's name, but someone else holds substantial control or receives the money.
The straw borrower: a loan in one name, the risk in another
The straw borrower: your signature, their loan
Division of work
Several people form a chain, with no one directly meeting the victim. Whoever collects the money does not necessarily know who sent them.
The money taxi: the courier collecting the cash was booked through an app
Building trust and emotion
Fear, shame or hope can come before the request for money. Pausing to recognise the emotional pressure can help you protect your money.
The Telegram trap: a date that led to extortion of more than half a million shekels
In many scams, emotion comes before money
Selecting a victim
Some scams deliberately select a target; others use mass or random approaches. In each documented case, check for evidence of deliberate selection, such as prior knowledge of the property owner or their circumstances, rather than assuming it.
How fraudsters choose a victim, and why it is not always chance
A NIS 1.2 million mortgage on their home, without a single signature
The money taxi: the courier collecting the cash was booked through an app