Prosecutors have filed a ten-count indictment against a 23-year-old man who divides his time between Hadera and Harish, accusing him of using artificial intelligence to harvest strangers' credit card numbers and then spending close to 30,000 shekels on goods bought in their names.
The charges include credit card offences, impersonation and obtaining goods by deception. According to the investigation, the accused spent several weeks running a purpose-built bot across social networks that pulled card numbers belonging to randomly chosen people. He is alleged to have used those details to order electrical appliances, luxury perfumes, computer equipment, mobile phones, a television and even furniture. Investigators say he also made use of other people's identity details and an unregistered phone to keep the purchases from being traced back to him.
The case was reported by journalist Michael Prosmushkin on the 90FM news programme "Yoman Tishim," presented by Yossi Hadar. Speaking on the broadcast, Hadera station commander Chief Superintendent Erez Amar set out how the alleged scheme unravelled. A credit card company noticed an irregular spending pattern and approached the police, and the joint investigation that followed exposed the method being used.
Caught at the drop point
Rather than move immediately, detectives allowed the transactions to go through so the suspect could be caught in the act. Officers staked out the spot where he had asked a courier to leave a package, and he was arrested the moment he arrived to collect it.
Under questioning he maintained that he had merely been acting as a courier for someone else, but police say the evidence they assembled — including material recovered from his phone showing the bot in use, security camera footage and officers' action reports — was enough to support all ten counts against him.
Advice for residents
Amar used the broadcast to urge residents to keep a close eye on their card statements. If a charge appears that you did not make, he said, contact the card issuer straight away; the companies tend to act quickly, cancel the transaction and refund the money.
He also advised people to think carefully about where they store and enter their card details, and to report any suspected fraud to the police without delay.
Source: Reported by 90FM's "Yoman Tishim" and circulated by the Harish News community des WhatsApp Group, 4 August 2026. Translated using Claude AI.
