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The banking ombudsman speaks of an “unbroken trend” towards more and more cases of fraud. In 2022, the majority related to credit and debit cards.
Andreas Barfuss has been the Swiss Banking Ombudsman since January 1, 2023 and looks back on a difficult year at the media conference. The year 2022 stands for a very turbulent environment on the financial markets, he says.
The corona pandemic is still having an impact, inflation is a big problem and the Ukraine war and its consequences are also preoccupying the financial markets. In short: the global balance of power has been permanently disturbed.
The increasing number of fraud cases in Switzerland is also worrying. This rose again in 2022 – by 4 percent. In total, the Ombudsman closed 2006 cases – 1,302 of them orally and 704 in writing. The number of unreported cases is likely to be large.
Barfuss speaks of an “unbroken trend” towards more and more cases of fraud. These have increased, especially in the digital space. The more people shop online, the more fraud there is. One in five cases brought before the ombudsman is now an internet fraud of this kind. The majority involved credit and debit card fraud.
A case to remember
When asked about a specific example, Barfuss specifically remembers a young woman who wanted to sell her bed on an online sales platform. She quickly found someone interested. The alleged buyer informed the young woman that he wanted to transfer the money to her. “All you have to do is log in to this special Swiss Post payment service and enter your credit card details there.”
But when she did, the data and money were gone, Barfuss recalls. The fraudsters would carry out their own transactions with the stolen data or install an e-wallet.
Goodwill often as the only chance
Once the money is gone, customers turn to the banks. You feel cheated, even though the bank or credit card issuer hasn’t actually done anything wrong. In discussions between the banks and the injured party, a goodwill solution is often found, says Barfuss.
Legend:
KEYSTONE/Gaetan Bally
The Ombudsman can make a decisive contribution here. In 257 of 704 cases received in writing, he intervened with the financial institution concerned and even suggested a concrete solution in 170 cases. In 95 percent of the cases, the financial institution followed the recommendation of the ombudsman. “This last figure of 95 percent in particular underlines the added value of our work for customers and proves the high level of expertise of the ombudsman.”
Barfuss therefore recommends that customers be more careful with their own bank details and check each transaction carefully.