Social Media Today: How To Stay Safe At Social Media Sites
Could crooks use information you post at social media sites to rob your house – or your identity?
“There’s so much positive hype about social media that sometimes its easy to forget the importance of maintaining perspective about it. Recently an acquaintance of mine stopped using Foursquare when she was pranked by several people who told her they were going to rob her house. Because Foursquare is used to indicate where you are, it was for them to know that she was at a restaurant and not at home. Fortunately she wasn’t robbed, but this story is illustrative of how social media can be used for more negative purposes.
Another issue, which is occasionally brought up to me, is in regards to identity theft. I don’t think that social media significantly lends itself to identity theft. If anything online shopping puts you at more risk for identity theft, but all that said, its important to recognize that you are putting details on social media sites that people can use against you.”