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CRIME

Reward money for Swiss murders goes to investigators

The 100,000 francs reward offered for information leading to the apprehension of the Rupperswil quadruple murderer will now go to the investigators who solved the case.

Published: 19 May 2016 09:12 CEST
Reward money for Swiss murders goes to investigators
File photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Urs Hofmann, justice minister in the canton of Aargau, confirmed the decision in an interview with a Swiss magazine, news agency ATS said on Wednesday.

The move will recognize the huge efforts put in by a task force of some 40 investigators who last week finally caught the man behind a horrific attack on a mother and her family in December.

Despite intense investigations, police had met a dead end by mid-February when the government decided to post a 100,000-franc reward – one of the largest ever offered in Switzerland – for information that would help catch the killer.

But no such information was forthcoming, so the reward was never paid.

It wasn’t until last Friday that police announced they had finally caught the murderer.

The 33-year-old man, who admitted to the savage killings, was a student and local youth football coach who lived with his mother in Rupperswil just a short distance from the house where the family were slain.

Police did not say how their investigation came to focus on him.

It has not yet been decided whether the reward money will be placed in a communal fund for the investigators or if it will be divided up between them, Hofmann told ATS.

The decision had the full backing of the community of Rupperwsil, he said.

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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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”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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