Teh Silent Epidemic: Cybercrime’s Financial Toll on Swiss Citizens

A recent study reveals a concerning trend in switzerland: approximately one in seven adults has fallen victim to cyber fraud, resulting in financial losses. While the digital age offers unprecedented convenience, it also opens doors to malicious actors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities. What’s especially alarming is the important underreporting of these crimes, obscuring the true scope of the problem.

Financial Impact and Reporting Reluctance

The financial consequences of cyber fraud can be significant. The study indicates that a third of victims have suffered losses exceeding CHF 1,000. However, a significant barrier to combating this issue is the reluctance to report incidents to the authorities. Official police statistics recorded over 59,000 digital crimes last year, but this figure likely represents only the tip of the iceberg. The survey, initially published in the “Sonntagszeitung”, highlights that only about one-third of financially impacted individuals report the crime. Even among those who lost over CHF 1,000, less than half (46%) contacted the police.

Underreporting of cyber fraud hinders effective law enforcement and prevention efforts.

Demographic Vulnerabilities: Younger Generations at Higher Risk

The survey data suggests that younger individuals are disproportionately affected by cyber fraud.This increased vulnerability is highly likely linked to their higher engagement in online activities,particularly online shopping.Common methods employed by cybercriminals include fake online shops (38%) and phishing attacks (33%), where fraudulent emails are used to trick individuals into revealing sensitive data. This demographic is more exposed to these threats due to their digital habits.

For example, a recent report by the Swiss National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) showed a 40% increase in phishing attacks targeting younger adults in the last year alone.

Societal Concerns: Critical Infrastructure and disinformation

The survey also explored public perceptions of cybercrime’s broader impact on society. A significant majority (over 75%) of respondents believe that cybercrime poses considerable challenges. Key concerns include cyberattacks on critical infrastructure (47%), cyber fraud (44%), and the manipulation of public opinion through disinformation and fake profiles (44%). These concerns reflect a growing awareness of the potential for cyber threats to destabilize essential services and undermine democratic processes.

Cyber attacks on critical infrastructures, cyber fraud and the influence of public opinion by disinformation or fake profiles are very concerning.

Other Concerns: dependence and Digital Well-being

While concerns about infrastructure and disinformation are high, fewer respondents expressed worry about technological dependence on foreign tech companies (17%) or the negative effects of digital device use on social life (18%) and mental health (16%). this suggests a potential blind spot regarding the broader societal and personal implications of increasing digital integration.

Survey Methodology

The data presented is based on a representative survey conducted by the Sotomo research institute on behalf of the insurer AXA. The survey involved 1,706 individuals aged 18 and over and was conducted between Febuary 26 and March 10, 2025.

Federal Response to Escalating Cyber Threats

The increasing prevalence of cyberattacks is not going unnoticed by federal authorities. Dirk Lindemann, director of the Federal Office for Computer Science and Telecommunications, recently highlighted a doubling of cyberattacks on the federal management in 2024. These attacks, primarily distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, aim to overwhelm and paralyze services, though Lindemann assures that no data has been lost.

Dirk Lindemann, director of the Federal Office for Computer science and Telecommunications

We record a strong increase in DDOS attacks on our infrastructure-they doubled in 2024 compared to the previous year. DDOS attacks are overload attacks to attract media attention. No data are lost, the attackers focus on paralyzing the services of the Federal Administration.