Account takeover: Private individual, Switzerland 2022
Shortly after midnight, around 1500 registration confirmations flooded a person’s mailbox (email bombing).
- Incident · 08.2022 · Switzerland
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Account takeover
As of
What happened
Hidden among them were two messages from a Swiss webshop: unknown persons had changed the address, email and telephone number and placed orders for 1800 francs. The victim reacted quickly, recovered the account and cancelled the orders.
- Affected
- Private individual (anonymous)
- Industry
- Private individual
- Loss
- Orders for 1800 francs, cancelled in time
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- unknown / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- unknown (login data of the webshop account)
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
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Social media, email or shop taken over
Mostly no information 14 of 29 private products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Orders and accounts in your name
Mostly limited 22 of 29 private products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Misuse of card, Twint, e-banking
Strangers pay with your money
Mostly limited 25 of 29 private products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
Overview based on public policy terms, as of 06.11.2026. Only your policy and its general terms and conditions (GTC) are binding. No confirmation of cover.
What we can learn
A sudden flood of emails is a warning sign: it is meant to hide the actual attack.
Sources
- Wochenrückblick Woche 32: E-Mail-Bombing verschleiert Hacker-Angriff (opens in a new window) Bundesamt für Cybersicherheit BACS (bis 2023: NCSC) · 16.08.2022
«die Adress-, E-Mail- und Telefondaten zu verändern und Bestellungen in der Höhe von 1800 Franken aufzugeben.»