{"id":25023,"date":"2025-05-29T19:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=25023"},"modified":"2025-05-29T22:44:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:44:35","slug":"busted-by-shabbat-phishing-scam-unravels-over-whatsapp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/busted-by-shabbat-phishing-scam-unravels-over-whatsapp\/","title":{"rendered":"Busted by Shabbat: Phishing Scam Unravels Over WhatsApp"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of efforts to expose Iranian phishing attempts targeting senior Israeli officials, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) today released\u00a0 (Wednesday) a transcript of a WhatsApp conversation in which a foreign agent posed as Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs. The impersonator was quickly unmasked\u2014thanks to the alertness of the Israeli citizen on the other end.<\/p>\n

The Iranian impersonator opened the exchange with an elaborate introduction: “I\u2019m Yossi Fuchs, head of the coordination department at the Prime Minister\u2019s Office…” But the first slip was immediate\u2014Fuchs is not a department head, but in fact serves as the Cabinet Secretary.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: ISA Spokesperson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The citizen responded right away, with suspicion: “I thought you were the Cabinet Secretary\u2026 and that you observe Shabbat. You’re not supposed to send messages on Shabbat.”<\/p>\n

As the conversation continued, the citizen requested a “selfie, to make sure it’s really you”\u2014but the request was dodged. When the impersonator suddenly claimed the conversation was happening through “the Interior Ministry system,” the citizen pushed back: “What Interior Ministry? You said the Prime Minister\u2019s Office\u2026 You’re very suspicious.”<\/p>\n

The Shin Bet noted that such vigilance can sometimes save lives: “Iran continues its attempts to target individuals in Israel using psychological and technological means. Public awareness is the first line of defense.”<\/p>\n

According to Shin Bet data, 85 Iranian cyberattack attempts against Israeli citizens have been foiled since the beginning of the year, most of them aimed at senior figures in the public sector. Targets have included security officials, politicians, journalists, and academics.<\/p>\n

The attacks were usually carried out via applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and email, involving impersonation of official figures and the use of sophisticated phishing methods to gain access to personal and sensitive information\u2014including emails, locations, photos, and passwords.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One citizen didn\u2019t fall for an Iranian trap on a WhatsApp conversation, when someone impersonated the Cabinet Secretary: “I thought you were the Cabinet Secretary\u2026 and that you keep Shabbat. You’re not supposed to send messages on Shabbat”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":25033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276,6,65],"tags":[6211,2491,6213,6212,6209,4252,1529,2110,1528,6210],"class_list":["post-25023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-security","category-world","tag-counterintelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-digital-threats","tag-iran-israel-conflict","tag-iranian-cyberattacks","tag-israeli-resilience","tag-israeli-security","tag-phishing","tag-shin-bet","tag-whatsapp-scams"],"yoast_head":"\nBusted by Shabbat: Phishing Scam Unravels Over WhatsApp - REGA news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Busted by Shabbat: Phishing Scam Unravels Over WhatsApp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One citizen didn\u2019t fall for an Iranian trap on a WhatsApp conversation, when someone impersonated the Cabinet Secretary: "I thought you were the Cabinet Secretary\u2026 and that you keep Shabbat. 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