Rivka just wanted to help her grandson: Scammers thrive, the state is silent

In recent years, senior citizens have become a favorite target for scammers who exploit their loneliness, digital divides, and the difficulty many of them have in distinguishing between legitimate services and scams. The hustle is familiar: an innocent phone call, a stressful WhatsApp message, a confusing email, and in an instant, hundreds or thousands of shekels disappear. But the damage is not just financial. The harm to the personal security and dignity of the elderly is just as serious.

The scope of the phenomenon is steadily increasing. According to data from the Consumer Protection Authority, in 2024, there was a jump of about 60% in the number of complaints about financial fraud compared to the previous year, most of them from senior citizens. As technology advances, so do the criminals’ tactics.

One of the most alarming methods that has lately emerged is the use of artificial intelligence to fake the voice of a family member, usually a grandchild or child, to create a false impression of urgent distress. For example, 79-year-old Rivka received a panicked phone call from her “grandson,” telling her he had been involved in an accident and needed immediate help. She did not know that the convincing voice was created from recordings converted in real time using artificial intelligence, and, within minutes, she handed over 20,000 shekels to the courier, only to discover the next day that she had fallen victim to a sophisticated scam.

In such a conversation, the emotional pressure is high, the voice is convincing, and the transfer of thousands of shekels is often carried out without suspicion.

Despite the severity of the phenomenon, the state’s response is partial, slow, and scattered. Responsibility is divided among the government ministries of welfare, health, justice, the economy, and national insurance, but in practice, there is no single body that coordinates the fight against fraud against the elderly in a systematic manner. There is no single focal point for inquiries, no systematic monitoring, and no effective prevention policy. The state does almost nothing to reduce exposure to harm in advance, responding only after the fact.

Information is available, but it is not sufficient. Occasionally, a short video or a spot advertisement appears on social media, but there is no permanent, continuous, and multichannel communication system that is tailored for the elderly, including speakers of different languages and those who are not connected to the Internet. So far, the state has refrained from building an organized information infrastructure that would warn, explain, and encourage reporting. This means that many elderly citizens are not even aware of the danger.

In light of the ongoing neglect, the first government initiative that directly addresses victims of fraud has recently been registered. The Ministry of Justice has passed a law in its first reading that will provide free legal aid to senior citizens who have fallen victim to fraud. This is an important step, but one that comes too late, after the damage has already occurred, and does not prevent the fraud in advance.

To have a genuine impact on the situation, the state must formulate a comprehensive and clear policy. It must task a single ministry with responsibility for handling the issue, including coordinating all related activities, implementing monitoring and reporting mechanisms, and coordinating between ministries.

At the same time, a permanent and wide-ranging information system must be established that operates on all media channels – television, radio, press, social networks and cell phones – in simple language and in multiple languages, so that it also reaches those who are not connected to the Internet. Alongside these, legislation is needed to establish strict and significant punishment for fraud offenders against the elderly, including actual prison sentences. Finally, financial regulators should be required to develop dedicated tools that protect the elderly in a manner appropriate to the exceptional level of risk they face.

It is time for the state to stop looking the other way and start truly protecting its elderly citizens.