Online Security
How to protect yourself
At WorldFirst your online safety is our priority so we would like to share some of our top tips to protect yourself from common threats and help you stay vigilant.
You can also check out this easy-to-read guide to staying safe online: Hong Kong Police Force.
Beware of scams by individuals who pretend to be someone else to trick you into giving away personal and account login details, or even send the money directly to their bank account.
Attackers may seem very credible by demonstrating a good knowledge of who you are and what you are up to. Beware of sharing facts about yourself online without the appropriate privacy restriction.
You may receive an e-mail asking you to click a link, open an attachment, give away your password or credit card number or transfer money.
Never click links or download attachments in the e-mail unless you’re positive it’s coming from someone you know. It’s better to visit a website manually by typing the address into your browser. Don’t get caught out e-mails can look very realistic.
If you’re ever unsure if an e-mail is genuinely from WorldFirst, just give us a call. And, If you believe that you’ve received a fraudulent e-mail impersonating someone from WorldFirst, please forward it to [email protected] and we will advise you accordingly.
You may receive a call from an individual pretending to be someone else. Beware unsolicited calls from any company and call back the official number should you have any doubts.
Never give your login details or any confidential data over the phone, especially when you don’t recognise the voice of the caller. Remember, we’ll never call you and ask for your security details over the phone.
You may receive a text message that looks like it’s from a trusted company, but is actually a scam.
Never give away personal details or passwords in a text and try not to press any links. Instead, use your browser to navigate manually to the destination. If the message asks you to call back a specific phone number, check its genuine first.
Use long and strong passwords with a combination of upper and lowercase characters, numbers and special symbols. We strongly advise you not to reuse passwords for different online resources as this makes it easy for hackers to crack your other accounts as soon as one is compromised.
Did you know that a common way for fraudsters to obtain passwords is theft of wallets and handbags? Never write down and carry around login details. Create a memorable password or store it in an encrypted password vault on your computer or mobile device.
Should you inadvertently give away your login details, change your password immediately or contact us to help prevent fraudulent activity on your World First account.
- Be aware of risks when downloading mobile apps. Avoid giving unnecessary permissions and downloading apps from unofficial stores. There’s an increased risk of such apps being infected with a mobile device virus
- Freeware applications may be packed with software that snoops on you or malicious ads
- Use and update anti-virus for your mobile devices in a same way you do for your PC
- Due to the risk of losing your mobile, never store passwords, password hints or other sensitive information, especially if unencrypted
- Never use a USB device that you’ve found somewhere and always perform an anti-virus check on any USB device you insert into your PC
- Be aware of your surroundings and don't talk about sensitive information when people are within listening range
- Don't access sensitive information when your laptop screen or tablet is within view of other people
- Make sure your home Wi-Fi access point is password protected and utilises encryption
- Be mindful of the information you share on social networks. Individuals are out there hunting for your personal details to perpetrate sophisticated scams. Your date of birth, names of family members and pets, geolocation and alike may be used against you eventually, if publicly shared
- Be careful not to tick ‘remember me’ or ‘save my password’ when logging into an account from a shared computer
- Be wary of visiting untrusted web pages and downloading free software
- Always be wary of clicking on unusual screens, pop-up messages and ads on social networking sites. It’s better to look for the content that grabbed your attention with the help of a search engine
- It may seem simple, but regularly updated anti-virus can help you stay protected from known computer viruses
Please contact your account manager if you are ever worried about your account security or if you suspect that there was a security breach of your account with us. At WorldFirst we take security seriously and we will respond to such enquiries as a top priority. Our dedicated security team will help you with investigation of your concern and remediation where necessary.