Since the end of October, five cases of false police officers have been reported in the canton of Fribourg. These crooks managed to steal several tens of thousands of francs from their victims, explains the cantonal police in a press release.
The modus operandi of these scammers is well established. They contact their targets by telephone or SMS, posing as police officers or employees of financial institutes. Their objective: to convince victims to hand over their bank cards and associated codes. Accomplices then collect the cards from the injured parties and withdraw money.
Elderly people are particularly targeted by this scam. The criminals do not hesitate to spend several hours on the phone with them, exerting intense psychological pressure to obtain their personal information.
The police remind that they never ask to recover valuable objects, cash or bank cards to “keep them safe”. This practice simply does not exist.
Faced with this threat, the Friborg cantonal police are issuing several recommendations:
- If someone pressures you on the phone, hang up immediately.
- The police never ask for money over the phone.
- If you are told about a loved one involved, hang up, then contact that loved one.
- Never give cash or valuables to an unknown person.
- Never get in a taxi ordered by strangers.
- Report any suspicious situation immediately to the police at 117.
- Systematically block unwanted calls to your operator.
- Pass on this prevention information to those around you.
Swiss
