When the bank calls, take a breath

Last Friday morning, while standing in a crowded supermarket line with a full cart, David received a call that sounded completely legitimate. The voice was calm and authoritative. “This is Yair from your bank’s security department,” the caller said. “We see an unusual withdrawal attempt of NIS 4,500 from your account in Eilat. Is that you?”

David panicked. He was in Jerusalem, nowhere near Eilat. The “bank representative” reassured him that the transaction could still be stopped. All David had to do was read out the verification code he had just received by SMS.

Within minutes, thousands of shekels had disappeared from his account.

David’s story is not unusual anymore. A February 2026 report by the Knesset Research and Information Center described fraud and impersonation scams as a growing national problem. In 2024 alone, Israelis lost around NIS 100 million to fraud, while banks reportedly blocked attempted scams worth close to NIS 1 billion.

The most dangerous part of these scams is not technology. It is emotion. Fraudsters use pressure, fear and authority to make ordinary people act before they think.

The rule is simple: your bank, the police or the Tax Authority will never ask you to give a password, full access details or an SMS code over the phone. When in doubt, hang up and call the official number yourself.

At Paamonim, we often speak about protecting a family budget through planning and discipline. Today, that also means protecting it from manipulation.

Sit with parents, grandparents and young adults. Say it clearly: no codes, no passwords, no urgent transfers. A few calm seconds can save years of hard-earned money.