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Man and wife strangled in Geneva murder

A 66-year-old man and his 64-year-old wife recently found dead in a Geneva apartment were both strangled, according to the latest information released by authorities.

Published: 13 November 2012 23:18 CET
Man and wife strangled in Geneva murder
Home where the drama unfolded (Photo: Google Street View)

The bodies of the couple were discovered by cantonal police on Saturday in an apartment building at 2 Rue Jean-Simonet in the Châtelaine neighbourhood.

Police broke into the apartment after relatives expressed concern about not hearing from the man and woman.

The Geneva justice department on Tuesday confirmed the criminal nature of their deaths.

“The investigation showed that they were both violently hit on the upper part of the body and the head,” the department said in a news release.

“Their deaths were caused by strangulation.”

The announcement confirmed information published earlier in the day on the website of the Tribune de Genève newspaper.

The woman was found in the living room of the apartment, while the man was covered by a carpet and laid out between two rooms.

The couple were originally from the canton of Schwyz but had lived in Geneva for 30 years, the Tribune reported.

Another newspaper, Le Matin, reported that the apartment had ben ransacked.

The couple had lived a life “without incident”, according to residents.

The justice department said an investigation to determine who was responsible for the “murders” continues.

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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