The Identity Advocate: Is Your Social Media Profile Putting You at Risk For Identity Theft?

SAN PEDRO, Calif. - Aug. 31, 2013 - PRLog -- Social media is teeming with opportunities for identity thieves, and most people are unaware they’re even at risk. Consider this: 54 percent of social media profiles have been targeted for identity theft, 15 percent of people have had their account accessed without their permission, and 70 percent have been asked to visit a scam website via private message. What are you doing to prevent identity theft on social media websites?

A study shows that 93 percent of Facebook users share their full name on their social media profile, 60 percent share the full names of family members, and 33 percent share their employer information. Although you are prompted to provide your full name, the city in which you live, your date of birth, and other personal identifying information when you sign-up with a social networking site like Facebook, you don't have to supply it. However, publishing this information for all the world to see makes it easy for an identity thief to get to work.

How Social Media Increases Your Chances of Identity Theft
It’s no secret that social media plays an important part in many of our lives. We share status updates, stay in touch with old friends, share family photos, share links to interesting content, in addition to a wide variety of other uses. While this is a great way to stay connected and has made the world a lot smaller, social media profiles and the tidbits of information people share—such as saying when they’re out of town—make them prime targets for identity thieves.

Online games are breeding grounds for social media identity theft as well. These games often offer incentives to players to fill out forms with their personal information. Some have even been known to ask users to fill out a loan application, which requires supplying their Social Security number. With users sharing games among friends, hundreds—if not thousands—of gamers can become victims before they’ve even signed off for the night.

Protecting Yourself From Social Media Identity Theft
Luckily, there are many things you can do (and not do) to prevent identity theft on social media websites. Here are a few easy ways to protect yourself from identity theft while still using social media to stay connected and have fun online:
•   Omit personal information: Your personal information is not required to start a social media profile. In fact, you don’t even need your real name. Instead of using your full name, use a nickname or other alias. You also don’t want to provide additional information that help identity thieves, including your date of birth, birthplace or hometown, address, and employer information.
•   Use privacy settings: Most social media profiles allow you to select who can see your profile and how much they can see. Set all personal information to “private” and only allow friends to access the information.
•   Don’t be friends with everyone: There are a lot of social media users who accept friend requests from anyone who sends them one. For all you know, one of those new “friends” is an identity thief trying to steal your information. Instead, just like in “the real world” you only want to share private information with people you know.
•   Don’t tag locations: If you’re out of town or away from home, don’t tag yourself in a location. This tells identity thieves where you are and can increase the chances of your home being broken into while you’re away.

Unfortunately, identity thieves are waiting to pounce around every online corner. Providing even the most basic information makes you vulnerable to social media identity theft, which can result in huge financial losses that can take years from which to recover.

Get Identity Theft Protection
When it comes to social media identity theft, becoming a victim is a “when” not “if” situation. In addition to taking the precautions discussed above for your social media profile, the best way to prevent identity theft is to sign up with a protection service such as ID Theft Solutions so your identity will be monitored and even recovered when it’s stolen.

The Identity Advocate is another great resource for getting tips to prevent identity theft. From social media identity theft to medical identity theft, The Identity Advocate is dedicated to helping consumers and businesses keep their identities safe. Visit www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or call 310.831.4400 to learn more about protecting your identity—including your social media profile—from becoming a target.