Woman scammed out of 30,000 shekels: "He said he was from the restaurant and there was a card issue"
Natalie Haya Tolmas ordered food from the Sushi Room restaurant in Herzliya, only to be targeted by a fraudster posing as staff who convinced her to provide her credit card details again. In an interview with "Morning News," she detailed the cunning scam and warned others to remain vigilant.
In recent weeks, a sophisticated scam has been targeting restaurant customers. A fraudster calls restaurants, posing as a customer who wants to verify their phone number, and then contacts actual patrons claiming there was a payment terminal malfunction that requires a re-charge. Using this method, he has stolen large sums of money from unsuspecting victims. On Monday, Natalie Haya Tolmas, one of the victims, appeared on "Morning News" to recount how the fraudster exploited her routine business practices.
"I manage a facial treatment clinic, so we frequently collect credit card payments over the phone; it's something I'm used to," Tolmas explained. "I placed an order for my team from the Sushi Room in Herzliya, and while we were eating, he called: 'Hi, you were just at the restaurant and I have a problem with the terminal. This has happened to other customers today, your card didn't go through.' I gave him the details and saw a charge of 15,000 shekels. When I questioned him, he said, 'Ignore it, it's a system error, we need to try another card.' In my innocence, I provided a second card, and my entire credit limit was exhausted. That was my business card used for advertising and campaigns."
After the restaurant confirmed it was a scam, Tolmas attempted to confront the perpetrator:
"I tried calling him back. He answered, 'I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know you.' I started cursing him, and he hung up. I was in great emotional turmoil. We tried to track him through the credit card company, but he wouldn't answer. Eventually, we confronted him on the line, and he claimed it was a 'completely legitimate business' before hanging up. By then, the credit card company had already flagged the activity as suspicious."
Major Aviv Shanan, an intelligence officer in the Yarkon District, provided details on the suspect:
"It is a 26-year-old resident of the Krayot who has a criminal record and existing indictments in this field. We have closed the circle on him, and so far, we have filed 20 indictments based on cases we are aware of."
