Since last Friday, the police of the canton of Freiburg have registered almost thirty cases of fraud in a few days. The method is no longer the typical unknown number that no one picks up: now the real number of the Fribourg cantonal police appears on your screen. Exactly like that. Not an imitation or anything like that. The real number. That's spoofing: a technique that allows the caller ID to be spoofed so that any number the scammer chooses appears.
In two days, 25 attempts and three completed scams. What they have already achieved is a sum of about 10,000 francs and several jewels. One of the suspects, a 26-year-old Italian, was arrested after a chase on the A12 motorway that ended in Saint-Saphorin, in Vaud, with the help of the vaudoise police.
The basic rule for not falling for this is simple, and it should be recorded: the Swiss police never ask for money over the phone, never ask for jewelry, and will never ask for bank details or passwords. If you receive a call like this, even if the number that appears matches the police number, just hang up. If you want to check, dial 117 yourself. No callbacks to the incoming number. 117.
The exact number used in the Fribourg cases was 026 347 01 17. If at any point you get a call from that number asking for something, you know what it is.