1. Never give out passwords, codes or card details
No bank, no authority, no police and not us either will ask you for a password, one-time code or card number by phone, text or e-mail. Whoever asks is a scammer.
Fraud protection
How to protect your business from fraud.
Seven rules that stop almost every scam. For you and your team.
Fraud against Swiss small businesses almost always follows the same pattern: pressure, a payment or a code, and a sender who looks genuine. Pausing for a moment and calling back on the known number stops most attempts.
Scammers call, send e-mails and text messages that look real. Almost always they want the same thing: that you pay quickly, click or give a code. This page is part of every Betriebs-Assistent handover. Print it and put it up where payments are made.
Seven rules
2. Never change bank details because of a message
If a supplier writes that their account has changed, call them on the number you already know, not the one in the message. Only then pay.
3. Urgent plus payment means: stop
«Right away», «confidential», «I'm in a meeting»: pressure is the scammer's tool. A genuine payment can wait ten minutes for a call back.
4. Call back yourself
Hang up and call the company on the official number on your card, invoice or website. The number shown on your phone can be faked.
5. Don't click, type it yourself
Links in texts and e-mails often lead to convincing fake login pages. Type the address of your bank or Swiss Post yourself, or use the app.
6. Never give anyone remote access
Install programs such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer only for someone you called yourself and know.
7. Four eyes on money
New payees and larger payments are approved by a second person. Talk about fraud in your team, especially with new staff.
Five scams from Switzerland
The fake bank call
A «security department» reports suspicious payments and wants you to withdraw cash, give details or install remote support. The cantonal police of St. Gallen and Graubünden warned about it several times in 2026.
sg.ch →CEO fraud
An e-mail «from the boss» asks for an urgent, confidential transfer or gift cards. The Federal Office for Cyber Security (BACS) received 971 reports in 2025, after 719 the year before. Now also with an AI-cloned voice on the phone.
bacs.admin.ch/en/26w4-en →The fake invoice
A real invoice arrives again, only with a new IBAN and a matching QR code, often from a supplier's hacked mailbox.
bacs.admin.ch →The fake parcel notice
By text, e-mail or even a yellow slip in the letterbox: a parcel is waiting for a small fee. Whoever pays gives away their card details; soon after, a fake bank often calls.
bacs.admin.ch/en/26w18-en →«Your domain expires»
A «registration office» threatens that your domain will be deleted or that someone else is registering your name, and asks for payment. Renew your domain only with the provider you know.
bacs.admin.ch/de/24w21-de →If it has already happened
Call your bank at once
On the official number. A payment can sometimes still be stopped. If card details are gone, have the card blocked.
Report it
Report the attempt to the Federal Office for Cyber Security (BACS). If you lost money, file a report with the police, in an emergency on 117.
bacs.admin.ch/de →Change passwords
If you gave a password or installed remote support, change your passwords and have the device checked.
What your Betriebs-Assistent does about it
It never asks for secrets
Your Betriebs-Assistent never asks for passwords, card or bank details or one-time codes. It never changes bank details because a message says so, and never confirms an «urgent» payment without your passphrase.
It warns you in one line
If a message looks like phishing, a fake invoice or CEO fraud, it writes to you: «Careful, this looks like fraud: …, do not pay, do not click.» It never answers such a message by itself.
It keeps count
Every attempt is in your inbox with the reason. Your monthly report says: «Fraud attempts this month: 3, all stopped.»
Frequently asked questions
Will my bank ever ask me for a code by phone?
No. No bank, authority or police asks for passwords, codes or card details by phone, and nobody asks you to withdraw or hand over cash. Hang up and call the bank on the official number.
How do I spot a fake invoice?
By a new IBAN, an account that has supposedly changed «because we switched banks», or a sender that is almost right, for example one letter different. Call the supplier on the known number before you pay.
What is CEO fraud?
Someone poses as the boss by e-mail, message or even with an imitated voice and asks for an urgent, confidential payment. The rule: money only after a call back on the known number, never by replying to the message.
I have already paid. What now?
Call your bank at once on the official number; sometimes the payment can still be stopped. Report the case to BACS and file a report with the police.
Where do I report a fraud attempt?
To the Federal Office for Cyber Security (BACS) at bacs.admin.ch. If you lost money, also to the police, in an emergency on 117.
Can I print these rules?
Yes. At the top of this page you can download the sheet as a one-page PDF, to put up by the phone or the till.
Is fraud protection part of every Betriebs-Assistent?
Yes. It is built in at no extra cost. At the handover we go through this sheet together.
A twenty-minute conversation.
Or a coffee at your place of business. No obligation, no slide deck.