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CRIME

10,000 franc reward to catch suspect on the run

Police in Zurich are offering a 10,000 franc reward for information on the murder of a 42-year-old man in Seefeld last week or the apprehension of a suspect in the case, a prisoner on the run.

Published: 7 July 2016 09:12 CEST
10,000 franc reward to catch suspect on the run
Photo: Zurich cantonal police / Roland Fischer

On Monday police said they strongly suspected that 23-year-old Tobias Kuster was involved in the murder on June 30th.

The suspect, a prisoner incarcerated in Pöschwies prison, had failed to return from day release on June 23rd and was still at large at the time of the killing.

In prison since February 2014 for violent crimes – but not murder – Kuster is classified as violent and “likely to be armed,” said police.

He was due to be released on good behaviour at the end of 2017,

“Up until now, Tobias Kuster, who is strongly suspected to be connected to the crime, could not be found,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.

A reward of 10,000 francs is now offered “for evidence which leads to the clarification of the crime”.

Anyone with information is asked to call Zurich cantonal police on 044 247 2211.

Rewards are rarely offered in Switzerland, but there have been a few high profile cases of late.

Last year a 10,000 franc reward was offered in the case of a violent rape in Emmen, near Lucerne, which left its victim paralyzed.

The rapist has not yet been found.

And in February this year police posted a 100,000 franc reward – one of the largest ever – in the case of a savage quadruple murder in the village of Rupperswil in December 2015.

The killer – a local man – was finally caught in May but without information gained by offering the reward.

The money was instead given to the police investigators who solved the case.

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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Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.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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