Beware of telephone scams
The criminal investigation department of the Basel-Stadt public prosecutor's office has to deal with a new phenomenon of telephone fraud. Victims are pressured on the phone, intimidated and asked to transfer larger sums of money.
Already two charges have been filed, as the Basel City Public Prosecutor's Office writes. It can be assumed that other people will be targeted. By means of so-called call ID spoofing (concealment, manipulation, faking), an unknown perpetrator succeeds in faking the authenticity of a call, for example by displaying the telephone number of an authority or a company. In addition to the telephone signal, the caller also sends a false telephone number, usually via Internet telephony (Voice Over IP). The perpetrators, who are usually located abroad, use the openness of the Internet for this purpose.
In the specific cases, unknown persons have, for example, posed as employees of a migration authority. Because of allegedly missing forms or violations of regulations, those called, mostly people from abroad, were intimidated and threatened with sanctions, according to the prosecutor's office. It generally advises caution when asked by unknown persons by telephone or e-mail to transfer money. If there are doubts about the correctness of the demand, one can contact the nearest police station.
