Calls in which fraudsters pose as officials calling from a Swiss number have been among the most frequently reported incidents to the NCSC in recent years. From January to June 2026, more than 400 reports were received regularly every month. With the extension of the caller ID requirement to mobile phone numbers on 1 July, the number of notifications in July fell to under 100 – a drop of more than 75 per cent compared with previous months. The initial roll-out phase for landline numbers in January had already shown the first signs of a downward trend. Despite the decline in fraudulent calls made in the name of public authorities, the number of reports remain high, with 27,128 voluntary reports and 200 reportable cyberincidents. Fraud remains a dominant and lucrative mass market business.
Attacks personalised using AI
The 2026 semi-annual report shows that the trend towards…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.