Websites, apps, texts – anything digital is relatively easy to fake. Criminals are increasingly taking advantage of this fact to scam unsuspecting users.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns: There is currently a website confusingly similar to the official AHV site. This page is advertising a purported pension reform, complete with an invented quote by National Councillor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher. To gain visitors’ trust, there is also a corresponding statement signed by all the Federal Councillors (source: PCtipp).
If you fall for this and enter your credit card details, you will have to part with high sums of money. Those fraudsters behind this copy of the AHV page are after their victims’ sensitive information and ultimately their money.
There is an increasing number of faked digital platforms or news. Experts estimate there is a digital double for every second website already. Even experienced users find it increasingly difficult to tell originals from fakes.
This is what you can do: Never use any links you receive by e-mail, text or messenger services, and never scan in any such QR codes to log into any website, in particular your financial institution facility. Instead, always enter the address of your online service provider or financial institution into your browser address line manually. You can read up on how to establish that you are on the correct website here.
