Someone Hacked Phones at Portland Israeli Street Food Restaurant Shalom Y’all This Weekend And Left Anti-Semitic Outgoing Messages

“In both messages, they specifically target Jews,” Hassan says. “I can only assume its because we serve food from that part of the world.”

(Henry Cromett)
By Elise Herron

Portland's Israeli street food restaurant Shalom Y'all had its phone system hacked over the weekend and its phone number was used to make multiple threatening prank calls, KGW first reported.

The restaurant's voicemail was also repeatedly re-recorded with "anti-Semitic and sexually explicit" messages, Shalom Y'all's managing partner Jamal Hassan tells WW.

Shalom Y'all operates two restaurants in Portland. The Southeast location was the one that was targeted.

Hassan says that a guest called on Saturday to tell the restaurant owners they "should probably check their outgoing voicemail." Shortly after, Shalom Y'all also got a call from the Hillsboro Police Department alerting the restaurant that its phone number had also been used to harass multiple Mediterranean restaurants in Beaverton and Hillsboro.

Hassan says he's unsure of how many other restaurants or individuals were targeted in the hack.

Shalom Y'all changed it voicemail password and deleted the outgoing message on Saturday. But Hassan says the voicemail had been hacked again on Sunday.

"In both messages, they specifically target Jews," Hassan says. "I can only assume its because we serve food from that part of the world."

In a recording obtained by WW of the voicemail left Saturday, a robotic voice alerted callers, "Hi, you have reached a stupid Jewish restaurant," followed by sexually violent remarks about staff and guests. In the second voicemail, which the hacker again set on Sunday, a short robotic-sounding message of similar content was followed by loud, incomprehensible yelling and cursing.

"You have reached the Jewish restaurant," the voicemail recording said. "If you bitches want to eat our shitty food, just come here and fuck yourself."

Hassan says the restaurant is still operating business as usual—"we're not going to let some hateful or bigoted hacker stop us from doing what we do best"—and that police are investigating the hack.

Kevin Allen, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau, says, "We are currently evaluating the case to see if there is a bias element and who would be most appropriate to do any follow-up."

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