Understanding Social Media Identity Theft

Despite the critics who fear that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others is making us less connected and less a part of live interactions, the internet really is a great tool for connecting people around the world. Whether it’s catching up with high school friends who’ve moved away or joining an online group who shares a common hobby, career, or interest, the internet is helping us find and engage with people we might have otherwise never met. Social media in a business setting is gaining more popularity, and with that, the opportunity to become a victim of identity theft is rising as well. The potential for compromising your identity is very real, especially if you’re not taking steps to protect it fully.

Even if you have the highest privacy settings set on your social media accounts such as people who aren’t on your friends’ list not being able to see your Facebook posts that doesn’t stop your approved friends from sharing your content. Even if they literally cut and pasted the picture you just posted, they can share it with all of their friends, who can share it with their friends, and so on. Think of every post you make online whether it’s pictures, birthday announcements, or any other kind of personal sentiment, you have no idea where it may spread next.

So does that mean you should never post anything? Of course not. But it does mean that you have to be careful about what content you post, and make sure that it’s only content you wouldn’t mind ending up in millions of strangers’ inboxes.

Another concern about social media involves posts that you see. Whether it is funny questions, online quizzes, or shared articles, many of them are gathering your information. The strange thing is it is information you willingly provided in order to participate. Make sure you stop and ask yourself who is receiving your information and what harm could they possibly do with it before you click.

If you have the highest privacy settings and you behave online in a very safe way, you’re 100% protected, right? Not necessarily. A thief or hacker can still gain enough information about you to take over your accounts and post content pretending to be yours. Even worse, they can create whole new accounts that look like you or your business, only instead of posting your content they’re used to smear your professional reputation, damage your relationships, or otherwise harm you.

Finally, there are a number of scams that are perpetrated on social media platforms. You may not be clicking on content, but what about the messages you receive? If someone reaches out to you through social media and begins a discussion, never share your personal information. This may seem like a harmless interaction, but scammers are adept at confusing people enough to gather the relevant information necessary to steal an identity – your name, location, age, and pet’s name can be enough to break through password security protocol’s and access email, online banking, and files on your business’s server. This is a heartless crime, but a reality. Scammers are using the internet disarm you enough to gather the information they need, and then leave you confused and unsure of what happened.

In order to keep yourself as safe as possible online, remember some basic guidelines. Ensure that you’re using strong, unique passwords on all of your online accounts in order to keep hackers from gaining access. Be sure that the content you post isn’t anything you wouldn’t want shared across the internet. The ITRC will be co-hosting a Twitter chat on April 2^nd with Merchants Information Solutions, Inc. and the Better Business Bureau, sharing more information on social media identity theft.