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CRIME

Switzerland’s escaped killer arrested in Germany

A convicted killer who escaped from a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland last week has been arrested in southern Germany.

Published: 3 June 2016 16:42 CEST
Switzerland’s escaped killer arrested in Germany
Kris Van Ooijen was apprehended in southern Germany. Photo: Aargau cantonal police

Kris Van Ooijen, 22, was apprehended thanks to “the very good cooperation” between police in the two countries, Aargau cantonal police said in a statement on Friday.

Switzerland has now put in a request to extradite him back to Aargau, with a court to decide in which secure institution he should be placed.

Van Ooijen escaped from the Königsfelden psychiatric hospital in Windisch in the early hours of last Saturday morning.

In 2013 he was convicted of murdering a 17-year-old girl when he too was only a teenager.

After connecting online, the killer and his victim met in person in August 2009 when Van Ooijen battered the girl to death with a piece of wood and hid her body in a forest in Sessa, in the canton of Ticino. It wasn’t until June 2010 that the victim’s body was found by a hiker.

Convicted by Aargau’s youth court, Van Ooijen was judged to have a severe mental disorder.

He was sentenced to four years in prison – the maximum sentence for a minor – before being placed by the court in a secure psychiatric ward.

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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”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