Take 5 Seconds! How to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones

Due to fast development of the Internet and mobile communications, the world around us has become incredibly fast and convenient: social networks, messenger services, online marketplaces, banking and financial applications – many issues can now be resolved in a couple of clicks. Instant online transactions have become customary, and people often reply to messages, make purchases, or respond to calls almost automatically. However, due to this speed, the digital space is rather vulnerable because cyber crooks take advantage of it.

The intruders use a lot of methods to gain access to personal data: they phone people and message them in instant messenger apps, social media, and by email, fake the voices of family members, use the names of relatives, and impersonate employees of banks, telecom operators, or public officials, trying to make people act in a haphazard way. The offenders try to get confidential data of the victims online and infect their devices with malware; the consequences may range from reputational damage to financial losses.

To observe the Safer Internet Day, A1 has prepared detailed guidelines on how to effectively protect yourself and your loved ones from fraud.

How do you recognize a crook? Stay alert! The person you communicate with may be a criminal if:

1. There is a surprise call via a messenger app. For example, you receive a call on Viber, WhatsApp, or Telegram from an unknown number (often from abroad). The offenders often use company logos as profile pictures. Be careful and remind it to your relatives, family members, and friends that mobile operators, banks, and public officials never contact people via messenger services, even if their profile does not look like a fake one. If you want to make sure that the caller really works for the company they claim to work for, ask them to introduce themselves, and then call the official phone number of the company in question and ask to be referred to that employee.

2. The caller asks you to provide confidential information. For example, they ask you to provide confirmation codes from messages, logins, passwords, bank card security codes, passport identification number, number of an agreement, and other personal information. Even if you don't suspect fraud, do not provide such information to the caller.

3. The person pushes you to take urgent action or intimidates you. For example, the caller pressures you into immediately calling back to phone number they give, installing an app, transferring money, applying for a loan, opening a file, following a link, etc. They may intimidate or threaten you. Don't give in! Only fraudsters try to push you into such urgent action or to cause panic.

The easiest way to protect yourself is by taking 5 seconds to think before clicking a random link, telling a code from a text message or answering a suspicious call in a messenger.

If you have received a call from scammers, please dial 102 and report to law enforcement agencies right away.

To protect A1 clients and all of Belarusian citizens from scammers, A1 has launched the #Take5seconds nation-wide awareness campaign. Visit safety.a1.by to learn more about effective ways of fending off fraudsters, as well as the basics of Internet safety.

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. Thus, A1 has launched the Safe Internet service, which prevents access to malicious websites and blocks suspicious domains, which may contain viruses, spyware or scams like phishing. It protects both individuals and companies from getting their devices infected with data-stealing malware and resulting data leaks. For more information about the service, please visit a1.by/protect.

As for A1's business clients, they are provided with a wide range of services available on the basis of the company's own data center.

Stay alert and be careful!