06.01.2026 - The expiry date of the current motorway sticker ("vignette") - 31 January - is fast approaching. Since the introduction of the e-vignette on 1 August 2023, an increasing number of vehicle owners have been opting for the digital version. Although buying online is convenient, it also comes with risks. Scammers and dubious providers are deliberately exploiting this by creating deceptively realistic websites to lure in victims.
Phishing e-mails related to e-vignettes have become more prevalent in recent weeks. These messages claim that the e-vignette linked to the recipient's vehicle has been temporarily blocked due to a billing issue. Recipients are urged to update their payment details as quickly as possible via a link in the e-mail to reactivate it. The wording is deliberately vague, so that it could plausibly apply to a wide range of vehicle owners. The risk of falling for such messages is especially high at the beginning of the year, when many people are buying a new vignette. Clicking on the link takes you to a convincing copy of the official website where you are asked to enter your credit card and personal details. This information goes straight to the scammers.
Fake sales pages in search engine results
The danger does not lie with e-mails alone. As it has been a year since their last purchase, many people no longer remember the address of the official website and therefore turn to search engines. This is exactly where scammers step in, placing adverts for fake sales pages. These ads are usually displayed at the very top of the search results. Once again, the fraudulent websites are designed to look deceptively like the official sales platforms. Logos, colour schemes and wording appear trustworthy, and the purchase process seems to work smoothly. What actually happens, however, is that victims pay for an invalid vignette and hand over their credit card and personal details directly to the scammers. The financial loss often only becomes apparent when the credit card statement arrives.
Not only fraud, but overpriced offers too
As well as clearly fraudulent sites, there are third-party providers that sell and deliver e-vignettes, but at a higher price than the official one. These providers operate in a grey area. While the vignette itself is usually valid, it is sold with high additional fees or supposed service charges. This can be hard for vehicle owners to spot, as the websites look official, and the real price difference only becomes apparent late in the ordering process. Anyone who buys an e-vignette via such third-party providers will often end up paying significantly more than if they had purchased it directly from the official government website.
E-vignettes in other European countries too
It's not just buyers of the Swiss vignette who are being targeted by scammers: the NCSC has also received reports from people who were concerned about buying a motorway vignette online for travel to or through Austria. In these cases, scammers imitated the website of the Austrian motorway authority, ASFINAG.
Other countries that use electronic vignette systems include the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. As these systems become more widespread, the number of fraudulent offers aimed specifically at vehicle owners searching for a valid vignette is also increasing.
Recommendations
- For federal services, always use the official pages of the Federal Administration, not private providers.
- Never share personal data such as passwords or credit card details on a website that you accessed by clicking on a link in an email or text message.
- Only purchase vignettes through official channels. If in doubt, check directly on the relevant authority’s website.
- You should also be careful when using search engines: Advertising links are often displayed before the actual search results. They are labelled as "sponsored".
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Last modification 06.01.2026
