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Crime proves a cash cow for Swiss authorities

Seized cash from the proceeds of crime in Switzerland benefited the federal and cantonal authorities to the tune of 31.5 million francs ($35.6m) in 2013.

Published: 22 April 2014 11:00 CEST

Crime proves a cash cow for Swiss authorities

In 2013, Swiss authorities received 31.5 million francs. Photo: Marcel Grieder

According to NZZ am Sonntag, the amount of confiscated money has tripled in one year, and is nearly ten times the amount seized in 2010.

Last year the federal authorities received 16.8 million francs ($19m) as the result of uncovered crimes. The canton of Geneva received 11.1 million francs ($12.5), while Zurich recouped 3.1 million francs ($3.5m).

Monies derived from criminal activities can only be given to government authorities by the federal and cantonal courts if no private individual was harmed in the case, reports newspaper 20 Minutes.

These cases generally concern drug deals, corruption and money laundering.

The sharp increase in seized cash is due to a clampdown on crime, reports the newspaper.

2013's record amount does not include cases where the proceeds of crime are shared between Switzerland and another country.

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How to avoid the 'police' phone scam in Switzerland

Switzerland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been monitoring the phenomenon of fake calls from alleged police authorities for nine months now.

But in the last three weeks, reports of this scam have almost tripled, the NCSC said, indicating just how widespread it is.

What is this about?

The scam begins with a call coming, allegedly, from police or another Swiss authority.

A voice, which the NCSC describes as ‘robotic’, informs the person who answers the call that their personal banking data is involved in criminal activities, or makes a similar alarming (but false) claim.

According to the NCSC, “it is not a person who calls, but a software The machine randomly tries Swiss phone numbers throughout the day. If the number is invalid, it simply moves on to the next one.”

“By using this software, the number of calls that can be made is virtually unlimited. It could go through practically all the phone numbers in Switzerland in a day,” the Centre adds.

After raising alarm about your bank account, the fake ‘policeman’ will urge you to “press 1” to be put in touch with a human being and obtain more information.

If you do this and, worse yet, divulge your personal data to the caller, you risk having your computer and credit card hacked.

What should you do (and not do) if you get this call?

The most obvious answer is to immediately hang up because, as the NCSC explains, “real police never play recorded phone messages. They also never ask for money or sensitive personal data over the phone.”

To that end, the Centre recommends that anyone receiving this call:

Should hang up as soon as you hear the recorded message
Not press 1, or any other numbers, during the telephone conversation
Not get drawn into a conversation.
Never grant access to your computer, not even via remote maintenance software.
Never reveal prepaid card activation codes.

A fake tax refund

While the ‘police scam’ is the latest attempt at extortion reported to the NCSC, it is far from a unique case.

Scores of them are reported to the authorities each year, including the one reported earlier in 2024.

It involved phishing emails about alleged tax refund entitlements.

However, the link in the email leads to a phishing page.

Here too, authorities advise to ignore these emails, not click on the link, and not enter any personal data on the phishing page.

READ ALSO : The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of

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