{"id":102577,"date":"2025-08-31T13:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/?p=102577"},"modified":"2025-08-31T09:44:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:44:48","slug":"elderly-scam-money-taxi-jerusalem-faces-growing-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/elderly-scam-money-taxi-jerusalem-faces-growing-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Elderly scam &#8216;Money Taxi&#8217;: Jerusalem faces growing concern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"472\" data-end=\"840\">Israeli police are uncovering a sophisticated fraud known as the &#8220;Money Taxi&#8221; scam, in which criminals target elderly Russian-speaking victims and steal millions of shekels. While the investigation is centered in the northern district, police caution that the same pattern could spread to Jerusalem, home to one of the country\u2019s largest Russian-speaking communities<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"842\" data-end=\"895\">Elderly scam in millions \u2013 how the scheme works<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"896\" data-end=\"1275\">The investigation begins with dozens of complaints from seniors who were misled into believing they were speaking with police officers or bank employees. Fraudsters impersonate authority figures and instruct victims to hand over large sums of money through taxi drivers ordered via ride-hailing apps. In each case, hundreds of thousands of shekels vanish into the gang\u2019s hands<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1277\" data-end=\"1578\">On Thursday the investigation goes public: detectives from the northern district\u2019s central unit arrest a 30-year-old woman from Haifa, identified as the gang leader. At her home, officers find cash and evidence linking her to the scam, including over 120,000 shekels in Israeli and foreign currency<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05d3\u05d5\u05d1\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05de\u05e9\u05d8\u05e8\u05d4 - \u05de\u05e2\u05e6\u05e8 \u05d7\u05e9\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4, \u05d1\u05db\u05d9\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d1\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea \u05e2\u05d5\u05e7\u05e5\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4nOMzwJnV24?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1580\" data-end=\"1636\">Fraud against Russian-speaking victims using taxis<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1637\" data-end=\"1844\">Following her arrest, police launch &#8220;Operation Money Taxi&#8221;, detaining several more suspects from Haifa and Bat Yam. Over the weekend, the Tiberias Magistrate\u2019s Court extends the detention of three of them<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1846\" data-end=\"2078\">Footage released by police shows the dramatic moment the main suspect is arrested on a public bench, handcuffed in front of bystanders. Police say the video was published to highlight the severity of the crimes and deter copycats<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2080\" data-end=\"2136\">Concern in Jerusalem over Russian-speaking elderly<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2137\" data-end=\"2351\">Jerusalem is home to a large elderly Russian-speaking community. Police fear that criminals may attempt to replicate the scam in the capital, exploiting vulnerable seniors\u2019 trust in banks and public institutions<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2353\" data-end=\"2605\">Community organizations in the city already report an increase in suspicious phone scams, though not yet on such a scale. &#8220;It\u2019s only a matter of time before someone tries here what was done in the north,&#8221; warns a community activist in East Jerusalem<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">(<a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-school-year-opening-2025-parents-worst-fear\/\">Jerusalem school year opening 2025 \u2013 parents\u2019 worst fear<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2607\" data-end=\"2671\">Police warning in Jerusalem: do not share personal details<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2672\" data-end=\"2913\">Police reiterate their call to the public: never share personal or financial details over suspicious phone calls, never install software on the instructions of unknown callers, and report any suspected fraud immediately to the 100 hotline<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2915\" data-end=\"3111\">In Jerusalem, where tens of thousands of seniors live alone, this warning takes on special urgency. &#8220;The city must stay alert,&#8221; police stress, &#8220;because a single scam can destroy an entire life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video: Gang leader arrested in multi-million fraud against Russian-speaking seniors \u2013 police warn the method may also reach Jerusalem<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":102571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Elderly scam 'Money Taxi': Jerusalem faces growing concern","_seopress_titles_desc":"Video: Gang leader arrested in multi-million fraud against Russian-speaking seniors \u2013 police warn the method may also reach Jerusalem","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10327,9319,10345,9314],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-102577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking","8":"category-jerusalem-updates","9":"category-law-crime","10":"category-main-item"},"acf":{"subtitle":"Video: Gang leader arrested in multi-million fraud against Russian-speaking seniors \u2013 police warn the method may also reach Jerusalem"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}