Endless nightmare Fraudsters empty accounts and drive victims into new debts months later
Fraudsters have been plundering the Twint accounts of private sellers for months - and even after the crime, the consequences continue. One victim lost almost 5,000 francs and is now being asked to pay for an iPhone.
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- Fraudsters have been plundering Twint accounts of Tutti sellers via phishing links for months.
- Ursula Brecht was also a victim of such a scam. Within 30 minutes, she lost almost 5,000 francs.
- But that's not all: months later, the fraudsters used Brecht's stolen data to order an iPhone 16 Pro - using the Twint "pay later" function.
- Mediamarkt wants to resolve the case, but Swissbilling has to cancel the claim. But they insist on the payment.
Fraudsters are emptying their victims' Twint accounts - and have been doing so for months. Those affected are mainly people who sell goods via platforms such as Tutti. The fraudsters have offers sent to addresses that no longer exist or belong to deceased people.
They assure the victims that they can now click on the "Receive money" function on a link to trigger the payout via Twint. But there is no such function with Twint, it is phishing.
Ursula Brecht (name changed) also lost almost 5,000 francs after unknown persons plundered her Twint account within 30 minutes, as the "Beobachter" writes.
The fraud had a bizarre aftermath: months later, the thieves used her stolen data to order an iPhone 16 Pro for 1,000 francs from Mediamarkt - using the Twint "pay later" function.
Although the public prosecutor's office in St. Gallen has since identified the alleged perpetrator, the debt collection company Swissbilling is still demanding money from Brecht. According to the company, Brecht passed on her access data "in breach of due diligence".
Perpetrator is known
The documents also show that the iPhone was delivered to La Chaux-de-Fonds, as the "Beobachter" writes. The recipient was the now known perpetrator, who accepted the shipment in person and signed for it. This information is available to Swissbilling and Mediamarkt.
Mediamarkt wants to resolve the case, but Swissbilling must cancel the claim. According to Swissbilling, they have canceled the reminder fees and will now contact Brecht regarding repayment modalities. Swissbilling therefore insists on the payment. Although the name and address of the perpetrator are on file, the company states that it has "no further information on the perpetrator".
Ursula Brecht is now waiting for the debt enforcement proceedings to be completed so that she can then make a legal proposal. Meanwhile, criminal proceedings are underway against the actual purchaser of the iPhone 16 Pro.
