Central Switzerland Police warns against romance scams

A new campaign by Swiss Crime Prevention aims to sensitise the public to the so-called ‘romance scams’ on the Internet.

Online romance scams not only cause financial losses, but often leave their victims distraught and ashamed. The perpetrators operate professionally, usually from abroad, and use psychological manipulation to build up trust, with the aim of then scamming money from their victims. Many of these victims don’t realise that it's all a fraud until it’s too late, and then feel too ashamed to report it to the police.

This is where a new campaign by Swiss Crime Prevention with the support of the Central Switzerland Police Corps comes in. The aims of this campaign are to raise awareness of this form of fraud, to reduce the reservations that the victims have, and to encourage people to report such cases. The campaign uses videos of victims and the romance-scam.ch website to show how the fraudsters operate.

How the Swiss Crime Prevention campaign presents itself    Photo: zvg

How romance fraud works, and how to protect yourself
Criminals use online scams to fake a romantic relationship. In doing this, they often make use of translation software and AI-supported communication to overcome any language barriers. In this way, they build up trust over weeks or months, before demanding money under false pretences.

According to the police, the best protection is simple: never transfer money to an online acquaintance. Without the chance of financial prospects, criminals will quickly lose interest.

If you have been the victim of a romance scam:
•    Do not send any more money or other goods.
•    Make a report to the police.
•    Break off all contact with the fraudster and block the person on all channels.
•    If you are contacted by other alleged supporters (e.g. Interpol, a foreign police authority, victim advocates, etc.), do not respond.
•    Talk to someone you trust about the incident, and seek psychological help if the whole thing is causing you too much stress.
•    If you have financial problems, contact the debt counselling centre in your canton.

More information about the police campaign can be found (in German, French and Italian) on: 
romance-scam.ch