CyberSmart(er): Three Social Media Reminders to Help Avoid Scams
Social media is an important part of most people’s lives. They connect with friends, family and the world on various platforms. Part of being a social media user is developing a social media persona. What is shared online is often strategically curated for viewers, who could include—whether knowingly or not—cybercriminals combing profiles for information to use in their next scam.
Using social media in a safe way takes a multifaceted approach. It requires watching out for messages and phishing attempts in addition to avoiding fraudulent ads, contests and even investments. Read below for three helpful reminders to protect yourself.
Avoid Oversharing
The information you post on a social media page may be for laughs, entertainment or to keep your loved ones informed. No matter the purpose, keep in mind that this information may also be seen by someone with the intention to scam or harm you. This is why it’s recommended you avoid sharing information such as:
- Potential answers to account security questions (e.g., first car’s make and model, city where you met your spouse, etc.)
- Details about an upcoming vacation (e.g., dates you’ll be traveling)
- Financial information
- Professional relationships (e.g., specific titles of co-workers, upcoming projects, etc.)
The foregoing information can potentially give criminals access to financial accounts, an unprotected home while you travel or more information on how to further target you for a scam at your workplace. If you must share potentially sensitive information, share responsibly by regularly reviewing your account privacy settings and limiting what posts, profile information, etc. is publicly available.
Don’t Click Ads
Common social media scams with increasing success are online shopping scams and fake giveaways. These scams often use a targeted ad to lure you in to “purchase” a product or ask for your personal or financial information in exchange for a “prize” that is never delivered.
If you are interested in purchasing a product you see from an ad on social media (even sponsored content), instead of clicking the ad, go to a reputable search engine and find a legitimate website for the product. It can also be helpful to search the name of the product or website along with the word “scam” to check its legitimacy.
To help reduce the overall number of ads delivered to you via online platforms, you can install an ad blocker; however, certain social media platforms employ technology that can bypass ad blockers, making them less effective.
Think Before Accepting Friends
Impersonation scams are also on the rise. These crimes happen when scammers recreate the online profile of a friend, family or business in order to request money or information from you. With the integration of AI into technology, this has become easier to achieve and harder to detect. Criminals can now use publicly available images and videos of you or loved ones to create convincing deepfakes for their use. To avoid these scams:
- check whether a new friend request is a duplicate of another account or someone who is already your friend online
- check if the friend request comes from an account that is new or has no other contacts, which could be a sign they are a scammer
- take a pause if a friend, family member or romantic interest urgently asks for money or information via direct messaging or post
- never give money or personal information to someone you have not met in person
These three reminders are just a few steps you can take to protect yourself when engaging on social media platforms. Although your intention on the apps may be to network or just have fun, don’t forget to do the work to protect yourself from becoming a cyber victim. And keep in mind, if a prize or new friend seems too good to be true, it likely is.
