My account was used in a scam and the police have summoned me

The recruitment of money mules

Fraud networks need bank accounts through which to move their victims' money, and they find them among private individuals. In 2023, Geneva police described three ways in which people were recruited, namely fake job offers posted on classified ad sites or on fake company websites, romantic relationships started online, and identity theft, which is used to open or operate accounts. They noted that people aged 20 to 25 and job seekers were particularly exposed.

In a warning reported in the press in July 2026, the Fribourg cantonal police said that minors and young adults were being approached on social media with messages promising quick and easy money and then, once their trust had been won, asked among other things to collect bank cards or withdraw money.

The pattern rarely changes. Funds arrive in your account, you keep a commission and the rest is sent on by bank transfer, in cash or as cryptocurrency. That money actually belonged to an injured party who has filed a complaint, with the result that the investigation leads first to your account.

Geneva police advise people who have acted as money mules to stop all transactions immediately, inform their bank and contact the police to report the case. The Fribourg cantonal police likewise recommend informing the bank and the police of all suspicious transactions. If you are thinking of going to the police of your own accord, it is better to prepare for it, since you could be interviewed as a suspect and what you say will be placed on the file.

Money laundering under the Swiss Criminal Code

Article 305bis of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) punishes anyone who carries out an act capable of frustrating the identification of the origin, the tracing or the forfeiture of assets which they know or must assume originate from a felony or an aggravated tax misdemeanour. The penalty is a custodial sentence of up to three years or a monetary penalty, and it can rise to five years in serious cases.

The provision also covers a person who “must assume” that the funds have a criminal origin. The courts accept conditional intent (dolus eventualis) here, so that it is enough to have considered that the money might come from a felony and to have accepted that possibility. Mere carelessness does not suffice.

The investigation seeks to establish what you knew or had considered, drawing on the circumstances, whether the pay on offer, the nature of the instructions or the identity of the people writing to you. Your messages with the recruiter will be examined closely, so keep them in full.

Other offences may be examined depending on the case. The same person is also sometimes both a suspect and an injured party, where the so-called employer first took money from them.

Your rights at the interview

At the start of the first interview, the police or the Office of the Public Prosecutor must inform you, in a language you understand, that proceedings have been opened against you and for which offences. The authority must also tell you that you may refuse to make a statement or to cooperate, instruct a defence lawyer or request a court-appointed one, and ask for the assistance of an interpreter (art. 158 of the Criminal Procedure Code, CrimPC). An interview conducted without this information cannot be used in evidence.

When the police interview you, your lawyer may be present and ask questions (art. 159 CrimPC). The law specifies, however, that exercising this right does not entitle you to have the interview postponed, so that it is better to contact a lawyer as soon as the summons arrives.

You are not required to incriminate yourself (art. 113 CrimPC), although the law obliges you to submit to the compulsory measures it provides for.

The money in your account

Assets in your account may be seized if they are likely to be returned to the injured party or forfeited (art. 263 CrimPC). A seizure is ordered in writing or, in an emergency, orally and then confirmed in writing (art. 263 para. 2 CrimPC). Do not withdraw or move these funds on your own initiative, even if someone asks you to.

Documents to gather before the interview

1. Reconstruct the sequence of events from the first contact, the advert or the profile onwards, noting each payment received and each transfer with its date and amount.
2. Export the messages, emails, contract or job offer in full, with their attachments, since they show what you were told and what you could understand.
3. Collect your bank statements for the whole period and the receipts for the transfers, together with the wallet addresses and transaction IDs if cryptocurrency was involved.
4. Write down the names, numbers, profiles and accounts of the people who contacted you or to whom you transferred money.
5. Keep the summons, with its date, the authority that issued it and the case reference.

The more detailed evidence checklist also applies to your situation.