According to Israeli site Calcalist, the pair behind the scheme are former Intel Israel hardware department worker Natalia Avtsin and ex-supplier Yafim Tsibolevsky, who registered a company called Energy Electronics 2000 in September 2023. The next month he was added to Intel’s supplier list, giving him enough legitimacy to start gaming the system.

Between October 2023 and November 2024, the two allegedly worked together to push through dodgy transactions. Avtsin, who was dismissed in November 2024 as part of what Intel said was an unrelated restructuring, is accused of using her inside knowledge to reclassify purchases from "components" to "services," a move that conveniently skipped over Intel’s usual verification checks.

Intel told Calcalist that service payments do not need signed delivery notes or receipts, making them a perfect vehicle for a scammer with access. Once reclassified, Tsibolevsky could send through invoices with minimal oversight. Even then, he kept them under $20,000, or around €18,500, to stay below Avtsin’s individual transaction limit, a detail he likely would not have known without her help.

Some transactions were routed through a third party, Levanon Kogan, which acts as a purchasing middleman for companies not directly registered with Chipzilla. While Intel has not accused Levanon Kogan of any wrongdoing, around 30 fake orders totalling more than NIS 2 million, or about €518,000, were funnelled through them using the same component-to-service sleight of hand.

Intel is taking Avtsin and Tsibolevsky to court in Haifa, demanding they cough up the money and any profits made. The whole affair raises questions about whether anyone else was in on the act, as Intel’s investigation suggests the possibility of further third-party involvement.

This is not just a bad look for Chipzilla. It is a reminder that even a company with mountains of security protocols can be brought low by someone who knows exactly where to poke the holes.