The Israel Police are looking into a complaint from Central Election Committee Director Orly Ades that a number of Israeli voters have contacted the committee to report receiving anonymous calls from individuals purporting to represent the Central Election Committee.
The worried citizens told the committee that the callers claimed that the message recipients' polling places had been changed and requested their ID numbers.
"They called me and on the line I heard a woman who identified herself as a representative of the Central Election Committee who wanted to update me that my regular polling place had been changed this year. She said my name and asked for my ID number for confirmation," said one person who reached out to the committee.
"She [the caller] emphasized that she needed the serial number on my ID card as well as the date it was issued, and said that if I had a biometric ID she wanted to know what number appeared on it. I asked her immediately where she was based, and she told me she was calling from Rishon Lezion. When I asked for her name, she refused to answer and the call was cut off," the recipient continued.
After receiving more than 10 similar reports, the Central Election Committee decided to ask the police to probe the incidents and warn the public again attempts to steal voters' identities. On Wednesday night, the committee notified the public not to hand over any identifying information to any source claiming to be a committee worker and stressed that it does not reach out to members of the public directly for any reason.
All legitimate notices from the Central Election Committee regarding the April 9 election are numbered and delivered through media outlets only: national newspapers, radio, and television. Committee announcements are also published on its website and official Facebook page.
