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Prevention over frustration: how to keep yourself safe online

3/10/2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

From writing phishing e-mails to creating fake shops to making scam phone calls, fraudsters are creative, well-connected and operating on a global scale. If you want to be protected, you need to educate yourself – and learn from others.

«There are two types of people on the internet: ones who’ve been scammed, and ones who’ll be scammed in the future.» This was one of the statements made at this year’s Online Fraud Forum in Hamburg, and it’s really stuck with me. Amidst this pretty bleak picture, however, we’re doing everything we can to protect our customers:

Since scammers are working together across borders, we have to do the same. Exchanging knowledge with companies from different industries, government bodies and even competitors not only helps us spot patterns of fraudulent activity faster, but also allows us to tackle fraud more effectively together.
You’re our biggest vulnerability. Don’t get me wrong, I mean that as a wake-up call, not a criticism. If you’re aware of typical scams, you’ll be less likely to fall for them. That’s why we regularly share online safety tips, including the ones in these three articles:

Background information
Fake competition e-mails
by Oliver Herren

I definitely picked up more than just the obvious ones at the Online Fraud Forum. There are two things in particular I’d like to share with you.

Austria’s leading the way in fraud prevention

There are some examples of good practice in Switzerland, including platforms like the Zurich Cantonal Police cyber crime website (in German) or the Federal Office for Cyber Security website. However, I was also impressed by Austria’s Watchlist Internet (in German). As well as clear warnings, it provides a fake shop checker, a fraud simulator and a free awareness playbook for companies.

In October 2025, the second phase of the «Phishing Impossible» campaign is also set to launch. Though unlikely to feature Tom Cruise, it’ll certainly provide even more helpful tips on how to avoid phishing scams. If you ask me, it’s impressive how much commitment and creativity this privately run initiative is putting into the fight against fraud.

Educational entertainment with Lennart Erbgut

Lennart Erbgut’s presentation was interesting too. «Erbgut» is an anagram for the German word «betrug» (fraud), and «Lennart» isn’t his real first name. He certainly has good reason to remain anonymous – on his YouTube channel «Callcenter Fun», he regularly infuriates fraudsters. He also shows his audience the deceitful tricks used by criminals, educating people in an entertaining way.

In one of his videos (in German), you can see an employee of a scam call centre try to get their would-be victim to reveal his bank details by pressuring him over the phone. The really insidious thing about the conversation? The scammer gives him real cyber security tips, such as «Don’t use the same password everywhere» or «Don’t use your date of birth as your PIN» in a bid to gain his trust. In making these videos, Lennart also proves that fraud attempts like this one don’t just happen in English-speaking countries.

What can you do to combat fraud?

Although fraud can never be completely prevented, there are things you can do to protect yourself and those around you:

Share tips and links containing information about scams with your family and friends.
Subscribe to the [cybercrimepolice.ch] (https://cybercrimepolice.ch/de), «Verbraucherzentrale» or watchlist-internet.at newsletters to stay informed about the latest scams (only available in German). Watchlist Internet also has a WhatsApp channel providing regular updates on new scams.
Have you been scammed? Talk about it. Report the incident to the police as well as the organisations mentioned above.

What are your experiences of internet fraud? Let me know in the comments.

Header image: Shutterstock

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Flavio von Rickenbach

Fraud Analyst

Flavio.von.Rickenbach@digitecgalaxus.ch

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