Fraudulent Phone Calls Continue to Increase in the Canton of Bern

The fraudulent phone calls continue in the canton of Bern. Around 170 fraudulent phone calls were reported to the police in May. In total, the scammers have stolen cash and valuables worth almost CHF 530,000 in recent weeks.

As the Bern cantonal police announced on Friday, the scammers managed to steal a total of over 200,000 francs in four cases this week. This type of fraud has increased throughout the canton for several months.

In total, the police have been able to stop five people in connection with fraudulent calls since the beginning of the year, as Sarah Wahlen, spokeswoman for the Bern cantonal police, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on request.

In addition to the economic damage, the victims often also suffer from great psychological stress. Several of the people affected said afterwards that they actually knew about the problem, as the police wrote. The perpetrators succeed in putting their victims under so much pressure that they hand over money anyway.

The cantonal public prosecutor’s office for economic offenses is leading the investigation into the fraudulent telephone calls.

razw, now