If you have an Uber app in Switzerland, you could be targeted by cyber criminals impersonating the famous ride-hailing platform.
As other numerous scamming attempts, this one too attempts to obtain their victims’ banking information and steak their money.
This is how it works:
Under the pretext of verifying payment details, an email purportedly sent by Uber scammers and titled ‘Action Required’ asks the recipient to verify or update their payment information.
A link is provided to complete this step, directing the victim to an interface that mimics an Uber account management dashboard, where they must enter their banking details.
Pursuing this transaction, the victim will do just what the scammers want: provide the information they need to not only to empty your account, but also to perpetrate other kinds of fraud.
Don’t miss our journalists’ daily news roundup from Switzerland
A ‘red flag’ moment
Legitimate companies don’t usually send emails (or WhatsUps or other text messages) to their customers asking to provider or verify, payment information.
If anything, they will contact you and ask you to call them to clarify these details
Therefore, the Swiss cyber police advises against clicking on links in suspicious messages and warns against ever sharing banking details with third parties without first verifying the authenticity of the request.
Anyone who has already divulged information should immediately contact their bank to block the affected cards and attempt to recover any payments made – though realistically, the chances of getting the stolen money back are not great.
The Uber scam is only the latest attempt to defraud victims of their money.
Such activity – whether perpetrated online, on the phone, or sometimes even in person – is becoming increasingly more common.
Though no one is safe from these attempts, some target foreign residents specifically – for instance, an immigration scam, where a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance. or official-looking letters telling immigrants they must leave Switzerland.
READ MORE: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of
