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CRIME

Police seek witnesses in Vevey stabbing death

Vaud cantonal police were seeking witnesses after a 32-year-old man was stabbed to death in Vevey on Monday.

Published: 21 July 2014 20:52 CEST
Police seek witnesses in Vevey stabbing death
Vevey: residents stunned by stabbing death. Photo: Switzerland Tourism

The victim, a resident of the Lake Geneva region, died around 2pm after being found in the hallway of a building on the Rue de la Bryonne, police said.

Emergency officials attempted to treat the man but he died from wounds inflicted by a knife.

The local prosecutor immediately launched a criminal investigation into the apparent attack.

Police were unable to say where the man was attacked.

“This person was found wounded in the hallway of a building,” cantonal police spokesman Jean.Christophe Sauterel told the ATS news agency.

“(The person) died shortly after, despite the intervention of emergency services.”

The force issued a call for anyone with information about the assault to contact investigators by phoning 021 644 44 44 or contacting the nearest police station.

Police described the victim as about 180 centimetres tall with medium long tousled hair and a goatee.

He was wearing dark jeans, dark t-shirt, dark grey vest and black Adidas running shoes with a fluorescent pink logo.

Residents in the normally quiet town on Lake Geneva, known for housing the headquarters of giant food company Nestlé, appeared stunned by the apparent killing, 20 Minutes newspaper reported.

A woman who works for a business on a street near where the victim was found recalled seeing a man walking bent double and clutching his stomach at around 1.15pm, the newspaper said.

The woman said she saw the man go into a passage that leads to street where the victim was later found.
 

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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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