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CRIME

‘Rubbish criminal’ sentenced to two days in Swiss prison

A man in the Swiss city of Biel/Bienne has been sentenced to two days in prison for failing to pay a fine for breaking municipal garbage laws after rubbish detectives uncovered his crime.

Published: 26 September 2018 19:56 CEST
'Rubbish criminal' sentenced to two days in Swiss prison
File photo: Depositphotos

The 33-year-old committed the offence back in November 2017 when he put a bag of rubbish out on the street on the wrong day and also failed to attach a municipal tax sticker to the bag.

These tax stickers are one of the ways local authorities around Switzerland have of charging residents for garbage disposal.

Read also: 'I faced prison for recycling in the wrong bag'

But the man in Biel/Bienne did not count on being found out by the two rubbish detectives who regularly patrol the city, according to Swiss news site 20 Minuten.

They were able to identify the culprit and he was fined 150 Swiss francs (€130). However, the fine was never paid and state prosecutors have now ruled he must spend two days in prison for failing to pay the fine.

It is unclear whether he will actually do the time, however, as his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Authorities in the city said 209 people in the city were slapped with rubbish fines last year, with another 600 people receiving warnings.

The city is also ready to fend off excuses about rubbish infractions.

“There are always rubbish delinquents who say someone else stuck something in their garbage bag, which is why we always look right in the middle of the bag,” a city spokesperson told 20 Minuten.

Read also: France kicks up a stink over Switzerland's 'rubbish tourists'

For members

CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

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Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”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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