#Take5seconds: A1 launched a nation-wide awareness campaign aimed at protecting the company clients and all of Belarusian citizens from cyber crimes

The main goal of the #Take5seconds nation-wide awareness campaign is to encourage people not to rush things when it comes to following any instructions from scammers. Anyone can take care of their safety with this easy step: take a break and think for 5 seconds before making a decision, be it clicking on a random link, providing personal data and authorization codes from an SMS, or answering a suspicious call from a messenger app. As a socially responsible brand, A1 actively supports initiatives aimed at raising awareness regarding fraud issues, develops information materials and solutions and holds training events. To make the Internet and mobile communications a safer space for everyone, A1 launched the large-scale #Take5seconds campaign.

You can visit the safety.a1.by website to learn more about some effective ways of fending off fraudsters, as well as about the basics of Internet safety. Sometimes taking a 5-second break to think is all you need to avoid getting scammed by fraudsters. To ensure that important information is always at hand, A1, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, developed a checklist that is now available for download. Furthermore, printed leaflets will be distributed throughout the chain of A1 stores and in territorial social security centers throughout Belarus. This will help to further educate the elderly, who are among the most vulnerable categories of the population and most often fall victim to scammers.

To make access to information about online security more convenient, a special banner will appear in the My A1 application, and a special section with basic security instructions will also be added.

The #Take5seconds campaign is the continuation of A1's regular activities aimed at informing users about fraudulent schemes and methods of rebuffing them. A1 has repeatedly drawn attention to the risks of taking calls coming from instant messengers, where fraudsters can pose as company employees to try and trick clients into providing their personal data. A1 emphasizes that it does not use instant messengers to call clients, does not require you to install any third-party applications, transfer codes or make any money transfers. The official numbers of the company have not changed (150 and +375296000150), neither have the А1, A1 banking and VOKA mass text channel names. For extra protection in messengers, clients are advised to activate two-factor authentication and block calls from unknown numbers.

As part of the #Take5seconds campaign, A1 will organize a series of master classes for the employees, volunteers and visitors of the chain of territorial social security centers throughout Belarus. Participants will be able to expand their knowledge of Internet security and talk to experts.

In addition to the information campaign, A1 also pays great attention to the development of software and useful services for protecting personal and corporate devices. For instance, private individuals have access to comprehensive protection against viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware and scammers, as well as tools to secure online payments and protect personal data from any threats of the digital world. As for business clients, they are provided with a wide range of services available on the basis of the company's own data center.