22.03.2021 - The number of reports received by the NCSC was moderate last week. Phishing emails and fake support calls were the most frequently reported incidents. However, nine reports in connection with ransomware were also received. The large sums lost in investment fraud cases were particularly striking.
Supposed investment platforms
Last week, the NCSC received several reports from victims who lost large amounts of money after investing funds on supposed investment platforms. One case resulted in a loss of over CHF 1 million. A particularly nasty sub-variant involves scammers recontacting a victim after a while and pretending to be lawyers who promise to get the money back. Again, "fees" have to be paid for this. The victims are thus defrauded a second time. In general, it should be noted that promises of large profits within a short period of time (and without work) should never be trusted.
Fake emails purporting to come from Swiss Post
Last week also saw an increase in the number of fake emails purporting to come from Swiss Post. A small "fee" has to be paid for a parcel that cannot be delivered. If you open the link in the email, you are taken to a fake website where you have to enter your credit card details. A larger amount is then debited immediately. It is not known what else happens to the stolen credit card details. Even though these websites look very professional, the attackers still make mistakes. In one case, for example, the fraudsters wrote "Slovak Post" as the sender in the email message instead of "Swiss Post".
