Fraudulent emails are circulating in the canton of Schaffhausen, purporting to come from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) and threatening prison sentences. The police issue an urgent warning about the scam.
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- The Schaffhausen police are warning against fraudulent e-mails purporting to come from the Federal Office of Police.
- In these e-mails, recipients are threatened with imprisonment if they do not respond within 72 hours.
- The police advise people to be careful with e-mails from unknown senders and never reply out of curiosity or click on links.
The Schaffhausen police are currently warning against fraudulent e-mails threatening imprisonment. A man from Schaffhausen received such an e-mail, allegedly from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), according to a press release from the Schaffhausen police.
"In the e-mail, the man was informed that several court proceedings were pending against him, including for child pornography, cyber pornography and sexual acts." The man was promised a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to CHF 75,000 if he did not respond to the email within 72 hours.
Fraudsters are often psychologically trained
Fortunately, the man concerned recognized the scam and reported the incident to the police. "Based on the sender's address or also because the man was not addressed by his name, it is clear that the unknown author wanted to use this email to try to gain the man's trust and then most likely to defraud him," the police say.
The Schaffhausen police appeal to citizens to exercise extreme caution when receiving emails from unknown senders. "You should also not reply to such emails out of curiosity or click on links in the email." The perpetrators are often psychologically trained and can lure their victims into scams using perfidious methods.