Protecting yourself against most scams

When you are being rushed

When someone talks of a deadline about to expire or of an account that has to be unlocked within the hour, or when you are threatened, the aim is almost always to stop you from thinking. Take the time that someone is trying to deny you, since no legitimate matter is settled in ten minutes. An instruction to keep the matter secret follows the same logic and should put you on your guard. On the telephone, a genuine authority does not ask you to hide the call from your family or from your bank. The most useful thing to do is then to talk it through, out loud, with someone you trust.

Checking who is contacting you

The name of a sender, the number shown on your screen or a page that looks like your bank's can all be faked with ease, so appearances prove nothing. If a call worries you, hang up and call the organisation back on a number you have looked up yourself, never on the one you are given.

Security codes

A security code is not to be given to anyone, whether by telephone or by message, and no more to someone who introduces himself as an adviser, a police officer or a technician. The person asking for it usually wants to log in in your place.

Promises of profit and withdrawal fees

No serious investment promises high and regular returns without any risk, so such a promise is enough to recognise the fraud. A request for payment to recover your own money, whether it is called a withdrawal tax, an unlocking fee or a deposit, is just as clear a sign of a scam, and it is better not to pay anything more.

After a scam

A fund recovery service sometimes gets in touch shortly after the scam. It is very often a second fraud, set up by the same people. Where money can be recovered, this goes through the authorities, which you can bring in yourself by filing a criminal complaint, with or without a lawyer. Do not pay anything to a stranger who promises to recover your money, and if someone presents himself as a lawyer, check that he is listed in the cantonal register of lawyers.

Older relatives

It sometimes happens that the family learns of the fraud only after the death of the person who was deceived. If the injured party dies without having waived their procedural rights, those rights pass to their relatives within the meaning of art. 110 para. 1 SCC, in particular the spouse, relatives in direct line and siblings, in the order of succession (art. 121 para. 1 CrimPC). When an older parent mentions a new adviser or an online investment, it is better to talk it over with them without waiting.

The page on helping an older relative goes into this advice in more detail.