I read this article on the Australian Broker, There are currently around one billion computers in use around the world at any given time and 160 billion emails are sent every day, according to BOQ’s official blog site. Furthermore, 97% of those emails are spam. Seeing as most – if not all of us use the internet on a near-constant basis, here are some ways to maximize your safety in the online world, according to BOQ:
Tip One
“No bank will ever, ever send you an email or text message asking you to input or verify your account details. Banks don’t do that because they know that’s what the fraudsters do. NEVER respond to these emails no matter how official or ‘bank like’ they look. JUST PRESS DELETE.”
Tip Two
“Install antivirus and firewall software on your computer and program so updates can be automatically installed on a regular basis (daily is best). Remember with the advance in smart devices your mobile phone is a computer too. Over the next few years you’ll need to install antivirus software on your phone as well.”
Tip Three
“Choose a good password. Here’s our tips: don’t pick a word from the dictionary; use a song or phrase to help you remember and then take the first letters from each word, for example: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star = TtLS. Then add some numbers and punctuation, TtLS214! Use a one-time transfer password device. Some banks use SMS messaging to your mobile phone for money transfers to new accounts, we also use the BOQ Security Token for maximum transfer limits of up to $10,000 or more per day. Chat with your Owner-Manager about the best device for you.”
Tip Four
“Erase your personal details from the Internet: Are you the kind of person who signs up for every interesting new website you come across? Most of us have signed up for at least one social network, photo sharing or online task management tool that we never use again! A site called www.justdelete.me is making it easier for you to unsubscribe from a whole range of web sites. The more third parties that store your personal data, the more at risk you are of this getting into the wrong hands.”
Tip Five
If you work from home, don’t let young kids use the computer unsupervised. “Scammers will send pop up messages that look like they come from a known company like Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Without knowing what it means, the kids might hit ‘yes’ or ‘ok’ which sets off a virus behind the scenes unknown to you.
Trust your instincts. If you get that strange feeling that something is not quite right, it’s probably not. The Australian Government have a great resource http//www.staysmartonline.gov.au which should be your go-to site for cyber security info.”
John can be contacted on 0749722081 or 0410433919. You can also email him at jwhitten@ihl.net.au or look him up on the net www.ihl.net.au. John Whitten is a credit representative (CRN 399796) of BLASSA Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence No 391237).
