24.09.2024 - Fraudulent investments, especially those involving cryptocurrencies, are a widespread scam. The NCSC is now seeing a lot of advertising on social media for companies and their websites that claim to be able to recover lost money. Unfortunately, they are just another scam.
Investment scams and what can happen next
The NSC has reported on different kinds of online investment fraud on several occasions. After the victim makes an initial deposit – usually a small amount such as CHF 250 – a web application shows them how their money is steadily growing. The scammers' psychologically clever approach encourages the victim to pay more and more. When the victim wants to withdraw the money, or at least part of it, the problems start. Further payments, alleged fees or taxes, are now due. However, the money the victim invested is never paid out. That is because it was never actually invested: it went straight into the scammers' pockets. Victims of this type of investment fraud should immediately cut off communication and file a report with the police. The money invested is, unfortunately, lost.
This is where the scammers come in again: a few months later, they contact their victims again by email, pretending to be a lawyer or government agency. They claim that they can get the victims their money back. This immediately gives the victims hope. However, in order to initiate the process, fees have to be paid again. And so the victim is robbed all over again.
A website comes to the rescue
In a newer form of the scam, the victims are no longer contacted directly, but via advertising links on social media. The sites and the organisations supposedly behind them pretend to be lawyers, for example, or even Europol or Interpol. The scammers use official logos and claim to be able to recover investments lost to fraud.
If you look at the domains more closely, you will see that they are usually only days or weeks old.
If a hopeful victim contacts such a company, the usual fees, taxes and other payments will soon be due again before the money can supposedly be transferred. To make claims appear legitimate, they are usually accompanied by official-looking documents. They are, of course, forgeries. In short, on top of the original investment, which remains lost, the victim has now lost even more money to the criminals.
Especially in the case of online investment scams, you should file a complaint and only work with the police. Even though most lost investments are never recovered, reporting them to the police allows for investigations that would not otherwise be possible. Thanks to international cooperation and data sharing, these reports and the investigations that follow have repeatedly led to successful prosecution.
Recommendations
- Invest only through companies authorised by FINMA (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority);
- Enquire with FINMA before you invest, and search the internet for reviews;
- Be very careful if you are promised big profits in a short period of time;
- Another red flag are alleged fees and taxes that have to be paid in advance in order to get your money back;
- Be extremely wary of anyone claiming to be a lawyer, company or government agency contacting you after a scam and offering to help you get your money back;
- Stay away from companies and websites you come across through social media advertising;
- If you have suffered a financial loss, notify your cantonal police.
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Last modification 24.09.2024
