Two young men from Israel's south charged with luring men via fake girl profile

Two young people from southern Israel have been indicted on charges that they posed as a girl on social networks to lure men to meetings, where they assaulted and robbed them, Ynet reported in a news alert. The alert gave no names, ages or town of residence for the accused.

Further detail from the indictment was reported by N12 correspondent Itai Gal-On. According to his report, in one of the incidents described, the pair arranged to meet a complainant, threatened him with a knife, beat him and took 1,100 shekels in cash, a phone and a bank card. When the man asked for his mobile phone back, the defendants allegedly told him he would have to pay 50,000 shekels to get it. In a second, similar incident, N12 reported, another man was robbed of 600 shekels and the mobile phone he had with him.

What the prosecution says

The indictment was filed by the prosecution, which in Israel is the State Attorney's Office, the body within the justice system that decides whether to bring criminal charges and then argues cases in court. Police investigate; prosecutors review the evidence and, if they judge it sufficient, file an indictment, the formal charge sheet that opens a criminal trial.

N12 reported that the prosecution stressed the seriousness of the alleged offences, noting that they took place in the middle of a residential neighbourhood and that at least one was carried out in daylight, with the suspects apparently showing no concern about being seen. Prosecutors often make points of this kind when arguing that defendants should remain in custody until the end of proceedings, although the reports do not say whether such a request has been made in this case.

An indictment is an accusation, not a finding of guilt. The two defendants have not been convicted, and the allegations described here are the prosecution's account as presented in the charge sheet.

How the alleged scheme worked

As described in the reports, the method relied on a false online identity. The accused allegedly presented themselves as a young woman on social media, struck up contact with men, and arranged in-person meetings. Once the men arrived, the reports say, they were met not by the person they expected but by the defendants, who used violence and, in at least one case, a knife.

The alleged demand for 50,000 shekels in exchange for a stolen phone adds an element of extortion to the robbery charges described. The reports do not say whether any money was paid or whether the phone was ever returned.

The shekel, formally the new Israeli shekel, is Israel's currency. The sums reported as taken in the two described incidents were 1,100 shekels and 600 shekels, alongside the phones and, in the first case, a bank card.

Where this fits

Schemes in which offenders use a fake profile to draw a victim to a meeting and then rob or threaten them are a known pattern for law enforcement in many countries, and they can be underreported because victims may be reluctant to come forward. In this case, the N12 report refers to complainants, meaning at least the men in the two described incidents filed complaints with police.

Ynet's alert speaks of men in the plural being lured and robbed, and N12 describes one incident in detail and a second as similar, but neither report gives a total number of victims or incidents covered by the indictment.

What the reports do not say

• The names, ages and hometown of the two defendants, beyond that they are from the south.
• The exact charges listed in the indictment and which court it was filed in.
• How many men in total are alleged to have been targeted, and over what period.
• Whether the defendants are in custody, and any response from them or their lawyers.
• Whether any of the 50,000 shekels demanded was paid.