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CRIME

Stabbing murder of Pole declared ‘cold case’

Just ahead of his retirement Philippe Vautier, chief prosecutor for the northern part of the canton of Vaud, has officially closed the books on an investigation into a sensational murder case — without finding a suspect.

Stabbing murder of Pole declared 'cold case'
Investigator's issued this photo of a tattoo on the victim's body. Photo: Vaud cantonal police

The mysterious case dates back to October 27th 210 in the municipality of Montagny-près-Yverdon when the nude body of a Polish man was found covered in knife wounds.

The 36-year-old man, who had been visiting Switzerland as a tourist, was murdered elsewhere before his body was moved to the community near Yverdon-les-Bains.

The murder is the only “cold case” in the canton of Vaud in the past 20 years, 20 Minutes newspaper reported on Monday.

The victim’s identity was not immediately known but a ring on one of his fingers, inscribed with the name of his wife, Agnieszka, allowed investigators to identify him 24 days later.

A silversmith’s hallmark on the ring identified it as Polish made.

In Poland, an appeal was launched for information along with a photo of the victim, which resulted in the man’s widow contacting police.

The couple had a child and the widow explained that her husband had gone to Switzerland with a friend, according to police reports.

Police tracked down the friend but he was cleared of any connection to the homicide, 20 Minutes said.

The man’s identity was confirmed by through a check of dental records by forensic scientists in Lausanne at a university centre (CURML).

But without any leads and suspects the investigation wound down.

Now it has been officially filed as an unsolved case, 20 Minutes said.

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CRIME

How to avoid the ‘police’ phone scam in Switzerland

The Swiss government has issued a warning about an increasing number of fake calls purporting to be from police. But there are ways to avoid this scam.

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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