Fraudsters pose as tiger mosquito inspectors – burglary risk in Riehen BS
In Riehen BS, fraudsters are ringing on front doors wearing fake uniforms and posing as tiger mosquito inspectors for the municipality. The municipality is warning residents and advises calling police immediately if anything suspicious occurs.
Fake tiger mosquito inspectors gain access in Riehen BS
In Riehen BS, criminals are exploiting widespread fear of the Asian tiger mosquito for a new fraud scheme. According to Blick, unknown individuals in fake uniforms are ringing on front doors and posing as tiger mosquito inspectors for the municipality – with the aim of gaining access to private homes.
The perpetrators are deliberately looking for weaknesses in buildings that they could later exploit for burglaries. The municipality of Riehen makes clear: it does not conduct official tiger mosquito inspections at front doors. On its website, it calls on the population to be vigilant: "Should a suspicious person ring your doorbell and ask for entry, contact the police immediately via emergency number 117. The police ask for a description of the person that is as detailed as possible."
The tiger mosquito provides a credible pretext for this. The insect can transmit diseases such as dengue fever or Zika virus, which according to the Federal Office of Public Health BAG can have serious health consequences. For pregnant women, there is a risk of neurological damage to the foetus. In the Basel region, the insect thrives particularly well – public awareness is correspondingly high.
Fraudsters becoming increasingly creative
The tiger mosquito scheme is part of a series of fraud attempts that Blick has documented in recent weeks.
In June, a Blick reader reported a fake email in the name of Serafe AG with the subject "Tariff adjustment 2026". It promised a refund of approximately 1,000 francs – on the condition of entering bank or credit card details in an alleged customer portal. Serafe confirmed to Blick on request that it is aware of such fraud attempts and advises affected parties not to click on links and not to enter payment details.
Also current is a fake SBB website, which the Cybercrimepolice.ch portal warned against on Thursday. Criminals copy the Swiss Federal Railways website down to the finest detail to lure unsuspecting users into entering data. Only the URL deviates minimally from the original. The SBB explained on request that they were observing the situation intensively and reported new phishing pages immediately to the Federal Office for Cybersecurity.
The heatwave of this summer was also exploited for fraud. A Blick reader from Thurgau ordered what was supposedly an inexpensive air conditioning unit in July that was supposed to cool several rooms simultaneously without installation. The device never arrived. "They wrote that they had lost my order number – and needed my details again," says the 60-year-old. He had fallen victim to fraudsters from Hong Kong.
Source: Blick