Steps to take after a scam

In the first hours

1. Alert your bank without delay, since a transfer can sometimes still be recalled, a card blocked or online access suspended. If you no longer have your card, the number to call appears on your bank statements and on the bank's website. If Twint is involved, contact its support as well.
2. From another device, change your passwords, starting with the one for your email account, and uninstall any remote access software you may have been asked to install.
3. Keep the messages and emails, the phone numbers, the exact addresses of the websites, the screenshots and the bank statements, together with any cryptocurrency addresses and transaction IDs. Do not delete the conversation, even if it makes you uncomfortable. The evidence checklist can help you gather all of this.

If someone then contacts you out of the blue offering to recover your funds, pay nothing. Offers of this kind that come after a scam very often turn out to be a second one.

Filing a criminal complaint

Under Swiss law, fraud is prosecuted ex officio (art. 146 of the Swiss Criminal Code, SCC), except where it targets a relative or a member of the same household. It follows that the three-month time limit for offences prosecuted only on complaint (art. 31 SCC) does not, in principle, apply to it. Some computer offences, on the other hand, are prosecuted only on complaint, such as unauthorised access to a specially secured data processing system (art. 143bis SCC), and the complaint must then be filed within three months of the day on which the injured party learned who the perpetrator was. It is therefore better not to wait, all the more so since the chances of freezing funds and preserving traces diminish as time goes by.

A complaint is filed orally or in writing with the police or the Office of the Public Prosecutor (art. 304 of the Criminal Procedure Code, CrimPC). Bring the material mentioned above, arranged in chronological order. By joining the proceedings as a private claimant (art. 118 CrimPC), you take part in them with the right to inspect the file (art. 107 para. 1 let. a CrimPC), and you can claim compensation for your loss within the criminal proceedings themselves (art. 122 CrimPC).

In Geneva, since July 2026, the police have allowed a pre-complaint (pré-plainte) against persons unknown to be filled in online, in particular for online fraud or identity theft. In the canton of Vaud, the online complaint form excludes offences committed on the internet, so that a complaint about online fraud has to be filed at a police station or in writing.

According to Canton of Geneva, 15 July 2026 (in French) and Canton of Vaud, filing a criminal complaint against persons unknown (in French).

Where the perpetrator remains unknown, the police may refrain from reporting to the Office of the Public Prosecutor if further procedural acts by the prosecutor are clearly not called for and no coercive measure or other formal investigative measure has been carried out (art. 307 para. 4 CrimPC). The Office of the Public Prosecutor may for its part suspend the investigation once it has carried out the searches for the perpetrator, and it then notifies its decision to the private claimant (art. 314 para. 1 let. a, paras. 3 and 4 CrimPC).

Reporting without filing a complaint

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) receives voluntary reports from members of the public through its online form and uses them to identify trends and take countermeasures. It received 27,128 of them in the first half of 2026. Such a report does not amount to a criminal complaint, so that if you have suffered a loss you will still need to file one. Phishing websites and links can also be reported on antiphishing.ch, which the NCSC operates.

Victim support (LAVI/OHG)

Victim support centres help people who have suffered direct harm to their physical, mental or sexual integrity as a result of an offence (art. 1 of the Victim Support Act). A purely financial loss does not, in principle, give access to them. Blackmail or sextortion that affects you severely may, on the other hand, fall within their remit. The centre in your canton will tell you whether this is the case, and the consultation is free.

When a lawyer is useful

Where the amount is modest, a complaint filed with the police is usually enough. A lawyer is more likely to be worth instructing if the sum is large or the funds can still be traced, for example because the bank account has been identified or because the cryptocurrency passed through an exchange. The same applies where several people have suffered loss at the hands of the same perpetrators, or where the liability of a bank or an intermediary may arise. The lawyer can then draft the complaint and apply for assets to be frozen, and afterwards follow the proceedings on your behalf.

A dispute with the bank can also be brought before the Swiss Banking Ombudsman, which handled 316 fraud cases in 2025, compared with 270 in 2024. Before turning to it, send a written complaint to your bank. The Ombudsman states that it can generally no longer intervene where a court, an arbitral tribunal or an administrative authority is or has been involved in the matter.

No lawyer can guarantee that your funds will be recovered. Be wary of anyone who promises this, particularly if they contacted you unprompted. If someone presents themselves as a lawyer, check that they are listed in the cantonal register of lawyers.

If money has passed through your account and the police have summoned you, the page My account was used in a scam deals with that situation. Where it is your identity that has been used, to set up a fake profile or to enter into a contract in your name, turn to the page Identity theft.

If you are taking these steps on behalf of an older parent, the page Helping an older relative is written for you.