Abacus Language Services places the highest priority on Cyber Security.

Contact us about Cyber Security issues

Abacus Language Services is serious about Cyber Security so this page explains how we deal with Cyber Security related matters including law enforcement, reporting Cyber Security issues to us and how Customers, Suppliers, the Media, General Public and Developers may bring concerns to our attention. Many Cyber Security issues can be avoided by not opening, and then deleting phishing emails, ignoring ‘freebee’ scams, deleting ‘fraudulent invoices’ and refusing to take fake calls pretending to be from us.

Customers

If you have made a transaction or purchased anything from our website’s Shop, or submitted information to us via any of our forms and you suspect the security of data or information provided has been compromised, via phishing or any other means we suggest changing your password and warning any counter-party financial institution, as well as us that your personal data may have been compromised.

If you have received an email or communication in the name of Abacus Language Services, any of our partners, brand names or one of our associates, and you believe it may be a phishing message, do not open this message but please report it to us. We can then respond to confirm or reject its authenticity. Abacus Language Services will never send you suspicious looking emails or digital communications or ask you to verify financial account information which you have not initiated When we legitimately require to verify account information, such as when you make a failed log in attempt, our process of contacting you will not be suspicious and will be initiated immediately. If you receive a message requesting verification information, but you have not conducted any recent transaction, or had a failed log in attempt, this would constitute as a suspicious message and should be reported to Abacus Language Services. 

Privacy

We treat any information you supply us in accordance with the Privacy laws of the jurisdictions which we operate in and which apply to you. Abacus Language Services treats all personal information provided to us with the utmost confidentiality. We only share your information with our service providers essential in supplying services you may have applied for or with transactions such as purchases from Our Shop. Where we are required to share your information with third party providers, such as Debit Card issuers, we supply them with the legal minimum amount of information about you, to protect your personal information. You can read how we safeguard your personal information and Privacy on our Term and Conditions (link) page. If you have any concerns about your Privacy please contact us.

Reporting Cyber Security Issues

We invite you to draw to our attention any Security or Privacy concerns relating to Abacus Language Services’ website, apps or our web servers. You can email us on the Contact us (link) page or send us an encrypted message. We will respond to acknowledge your report and may request additional information as part of our investigation of the problem. If you believe we have not received your email, please re-send after three days.

To protect the privacy of our users and also to protect the integrity of our own Cyber Security Abacus Language Services will refrain from disclosing, discussing or confirming Security concerns until we have completed our investigation of the issue and potentially fixed or updated any problems or threats which may have been found to actually exist.

Abacus Language Services appreciates and values Cyber Security researchers bringing to our attention security concerns regarding our websites, apps, digital products or web servers and we reward them for doing so with our Bug Hunter (link) scheme.

Law enforcement

Abacus Language Services deals with requests from government agencies in accordance with laws prevailing in the countries we operate in, or where our web servers are located which are Switzerland and Hong Kong. Law enforcement requests from countries where our customer’s reside or conduct business in, or transact from or to, will be dealt with in accordance with applicable laws applying to both Abacus Language Services and the account holder. Requests for information, will only be complied with if we are legally bound to provide this information. Intrusive law enforcement enquiries without merit or authority to do so will we regarded as an intrusion into our Customers, Suppliers and Business associates’ rights to privacy. If you are a law enforcement agency requiring information from us use our Contact us page.

Media

Members of the media requiring information about Abacus Language Services or any of our digital services please use our Contact us (link) page.

Warnings and Tips

Scammers and hackers target both potential customers and websites and use many devices to obtain private information via fraudulent emails, fake pop-up ads, text messages, instant messages and sometimes phone calls and voicemail. Do not be tricked into sharing personal information. Cyber fraudsters can easily duplicate or spoof email addresses, phone numbers so receiving an email purporting to come from us (or anyone) is no guarantee it actually did come from us. Phone calls can also to spoofed, so if in doubt hang up.

If you receive an unsolicited email or text message claiming to come from Abacus Language Services, or from one of our services or associates, or receive a call claiming to come from us you may be the target of a scam. Until you are certain Abacus Language Services has actually contacted you (which is unlikely unless there is a valid and recent reason for doing so), then do not provide financial account details, personal information or passwords. In the case of receiving a phone call, ask for the callers number if you are uncertain and ring them back after verifying it is authentic.

Receiving a fraudulent email or text

If you receive a suspected fraudulent email or text message claiming to come from Abacus Language Services we would like to know about it to protect our customers from scammers. Fraudsters can copy messages, use unauthorised logos and duplicate authentic messages with embedded links to a fraudulent digital site. If you suspect fraud, do not click on the link, but rather type the website’s URL into the browser. If it is genuine, it will go to the correct website, if it is fraudulent the site may not exist. If you have doubts about authenticity, do not follow links and do not open attachments, particularly if they were unsolicited or suspicious.

Warning signs about Cyber Security

Usually scammers are not as clever as they imagine and there are obvious warning signs. Here are some of them:

• Sender’s contact details (email address or phone numbers) don’t match the actual company.
• Your personal details are different from those you normally use. Such as name spelt incorrectly, spelling in lower case only or upper case, or other details which are wrong such as phone number, address etc.
• Many phishing emails are simply addressed to ‘Dear Customer’ or look obviously ‘cut and pasted’. Genuine companies will address you correctly in messages.
• If you do click on a legitimate looking link and it connects to a different company or page, it is most likely fraudulent, rather than a mistake. You should immediately close the link.
• Professional companies usually have professional looking communication, so if you receive something which looks radically different from their usual communication, it may be someone fraudulently trying to copy their style.
• Communication requesting personal information, financial account details or password verification are highly suspicious. Abacus Language Services do request verification but only for valid reasons, such as when you incorrectly enter passwords. Be suspicious of unjustified verifications from us or anyone else.
• Unsolicited communication, with attachments or telling you you have won something are suspect.

Please report any phiishing emails you receive claiming to be from Abacus Language Services – we would like to know about it, so we can stop it. Use our Contact us page. Please provide us with as much information as you can, without actually forwarding it to us.

Protecting Security Information

Abacus Language Services wants all users to have a happy experience using our services, so we genuinely want your Cyber Security activities to be private and safe. If you are concerned about sending us security sensitive information by email, you are welcome to encrypt it.