The police and the Swiss National Center for Cyber ​​Security (NCSC) warn of a new fraudulent telephone scam that has been targeting Swiss residents in the past two weeks: A computer-generated voice in English pretends to call on behalf of the canton’s police. The call claims that your identification, credit card, or bank account has shown fraudulent activity and that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The voice prompts the victim to press a specific number on the phone to be put through to a police officer for clarification.

This is a scam designed to intercept personal and financial information. Also, by pressing the number, an expensive connection is often set up, with which the caller collects a lot of money. You are strongly advised to ignore such calls and never reveal any personal or sensitive information. No matter what is said on the phone: none of it is true!

The real police would never ask for money, valuables, or sensitive personal information over the phone. The NCSC, the police, and also Swiss crime prevention recommend simply ending such phone calls with recorded announcements, as quickly as possible.

The Swiss Crime Prevention also explains: “It can be assumed that we are only at the beginning with digitally generated voices and the use of artificial intelligence in this regard and that AI-generated ‘known’ voices are increasingly being used.” One should always be suspicious of unexpected calls.

If you have received such a call or have any concerns, you can contact your cantonal or local police for more information at their non-emergency numbers or, if it is urgent, at their emergency number 117.

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