Imposter sentenced to nine years for defrauding families of hostages

The imposter, who committed online fraud pretending they were a family of a hostage, a 30-year-old resident of Yokneam Illit, received eight years and 10 months behind bars.

The Central District Fraud Unit had been conducting an investigation into the fraud during the past few months until the suspect was finally caught.

After a number of complaints from the public, the unit's police officers managed to uncover the identity of the imposter who asked for donations - in dozens of occations - worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.

According to the suspicion that arose, the defendant impersonated a number of different people from among the families of the hostages and the murdered, using their photos from a social network. They contacted the public through messaging software to receive donations "in cash only," with the money given to a taxi driver who arrived at the victims' address.

* Kikar Hashabbat contributed to this article.