{"id":17346,"date":"2021-04-15T15:15:23","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T13:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/uncategorized\/is-identity-theft-punishable-in-switzerland\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T17:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:44:15","slug":"is-identity-theft-punishable-in-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/faq-criminal-law\/is-identity-theft-punishable-in-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"Is identity theft a crime in Switzerland?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Is identity theft a criminal offense in Switzerland?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, as of September 1, 2023<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since September 1, 2023, identity theft has been a standalone criminal offense under Swiss<br\/>e law, introduced as part of the comprehensive revision of the Data Protection Act (DPA). It is<br\/>ly punishable under<strong>Art. 179decies of the Swiss Criminal Code (CP<\/strong>), titled \u201cIdentity Theft.\u201d <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What does the law say?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Article 179decies of the Swiss Criminal Code provides that \u201c any person who uses another person\u2019s identity without that person\u2019s<br\/>consent with the intent to harm that person or to obtain, for themselves or a third party, an unlawful<br\/>benefit shall, upon complaint, be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine.\u201d <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What are the elements of the offense?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use of another person\u2019s identity\u2014including name, photo, personal data, email address or IP<br\/>, account number, etc.\u2014without the consent of the person concerned, who must be<br\/>identifiable. The person does not need to be aware of the identity theft for<br\/>the offense to have been committed.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No required result: This is a formal offense, committed solely by the<br\/>e behavior of the perpetrator.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special intent: The perpetrator must act with the intent to harm the victim, or to obtain\u2014<br\/>r to procure for a third party\u2014an unlawful benefit, most often of a financial nature. A simple &#8220;<br\/>&#8221; or joke, without specific intent, is generally not sufficient. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecution based solely on the victim&#8217;s complaint.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What types of behavior are typically targeted?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The provision covers, in particular:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the &#8220;president&#8221; or &#8220;grandson\/granddaughter&#8221; scam;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>romance scams;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the creation of fake profiles on social media;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>identity theft via deepfakes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>impersonating a third party when dealing with a government agency, a business, or a<br\/>bank.<br\/>To date, case law has not yet ruled on the interpretation of several of these<br\/>concepts (the exact scope of the concept of \u201cidentity,\u201d protection of legal entities, etc.), so<br\/>some uncertainty remains regarding certain aspects of the law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Can identity theft be combined with other offenses?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. Depending on the circumstances, it may be committed in conjunction with fraud (Art. 146 of the Swiss Penal Code), defamation<br\/>, or slander (Art. 173 et seq. of the Swiss Penal Code), the theft of personal data (Art. 179novies of the Swiss Criminal Code) or<br\/>stalking (Art. 181b of the Swiss Criminal Code)\u2014particularly when the identity theft is used to commit another<br\/>offense, such as in \u201cpresident\u201d or \u201cnephew\u201d scams. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Need some guidance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you are a victim of identity theft or are being accused of such a crime, our law firm<br\/>will assist you in filing a complaint or in your defense.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find more information on this topic on our <a href=\"http:\/\/owfmamzyv.preview.infomaniak.website\/comment-se-deroule-une-procedure-penale\/#3.-recours\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cybercrime <\/a>page or <a href=\"http:\/\/owfmamzyv.preview.infomaniak.website\/equipe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact one of our lawyers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<section class=\"section\" id=\"section_1114435234\">\n\t\t<div class=\"section-bg fill\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<div class=\"section-content relative\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-1905366328\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-220165009\" class=\"col small-12 large-12\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t<div id=\"text-2110197768\" class=\"text\">\n\t\t\n\n<h2><strong>We are at your disposal<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you do not find the answer to your question, do not hesitate to ask us directly or to make an appointment<br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\n<style>\n#text-2110197768 {\n  text-align: left;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n<div class=\"row\"  id=\"row-1506422135\">\n\n\n\t<div id=\"col-140856446\" class=\"col medium-6 small-12 large-6\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner text-left\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/produit\/ask-a-question\/\" class=\"button primary is-small expand\" style=\"border-radius:99px;\">\n\t<i class=\"icon-envelop\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\t<span>Your first question<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"col-2114719072\" class=\"col medium-6 small-12 large-6\"  >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-inner text-left\"  >\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/online-appointment\/\" class=\"button primary is-small expand\" style=\"border-radius:99px;\">\n\t<i class=\"icon-clock\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\t<span>Make an appointment<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n<style>\n#section_1114435234 {\n  padding-top: 30px;\n  padding-bottom: 30px;\n}\n<\/style>\n\t<\/section>\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is identity theft a criminal offense in Switzerland? Yes, as of September 1, 2023 Since September 1, 2023, identity theft has been a standalone criminal offense under Swisse law, introduced as part of the comprehensive revision of the Data Protection Act (DPA). It isly punishable underArt. 179decies of the Swiss Criminal Code (CP), titled \u201cIdentity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4394],"tags":[4458,4459],"class_list":["post-17346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faq-criminal-law","tag-cybercrime-en","tag-identity-theft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17346"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20746,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17346\/revisions\/20746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penalex.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}