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CRIME

Italian research student slain in Geneva street

Police have opened a murder investigation after a 29-year-old Italian doctoral student at the University of Geneva was battered to death on the street on Monday night.

Published: 14 April 2016 08:48 CEST
Italian research student slain in Geneva street
The attack happened near Geneva's university hospital HUG. File Photo: Julien Gregario

The victim was walking on a residential street close to the university hospital HUG at around 11pm on Monday night when she was attacked, reported 24 Heures.

Hit several times on the head with an iron bar, she died at the scene from her injuries.

Speaking to newspaper 24 Heures, a man who lives in the neighbourhood said: “I saw the body on the ground and the paramedics trying to revive her as I walked home just after 11pm.”

Paramedics spent 45 minutes trying to save her, he said.

The victim was an Italian national from Turin who was in Geneva to pursue a doctorate in medicine at the university, said 24 Heures.

One of her professors confirmed her death to the paper.

“We have very little information but we are very much in shock and extremely sad,” he said.

According to the paper, the victim was just a few metres from her home when she was attacked.

The perpetrator, believed to be known to the victim, is thought to be a man of African origin, aged between 20 to 30 years old and about 1.90m tall.

The public prosecutor has opened a murder investigation and is appealing for witnesses to catch the man, who is still at large.

Anyone with information should contact police on 022 427 7240.

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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”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