Deception (social engineering): Private individual, Switzerland 2026
A caller informed a 72-year-old man of supposedly fraudulent payments with his bank cards.
- Incident · 04.2026 · Châtel-St-Denis FR, Switzerland
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Deception (social engineering)
- Fraud
As of
What happened
He was told to cut up the cards but leave the chips undamaged; a courier collected them, and the perpetrators then withdrew several thousand francs from cash machines. In September 2026, the Fribourg cantonal police identified an 18-year-old suspected courier, who confessed to three cases.
- Affected
- Private individual (anonymous)
- Industry
- Private individual
- Loss
- several thousand francs
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- unknown / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- Call from a fake bank employee
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
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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.
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Hotline and advice before anything happens
Mostly no information 14 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
The bank never has cards or chips collected; cut-up cards belong in your own rubbish.
Sources
- Betrugsfälle mit «falschen Bankangestellten»: Drei mutmassliche Täter ermittelt (opens in a new window) Kantonspolizei Freiburg · 13.10.2026
«Danach wurden damit mehrere tausend Franken an einem Bancomaten bezogen.»