Risk of Social Networking. Identity Theft

Let's continue with Identity Theft

Identity theft is when someone pretends to be someone else to get a benefit or cause harm. An identity thief collects personal information about another person, such as their name, address, date of birth and passwords, and uses that information to take on the other person’s identity.


Examples of identity thief

Making fake profiles
Creating or using profiles on social networking sites under a fake name or using another person’s identity is ‘identity theft’ and can be illegal.

Some social networking sites also have their own rules about creating more than one profile per person or creating profiles under fake names. Profiles breaking those rules may be removed from the site.

Hacking into real profiles
An identity thief may be able to get into your online accounts in a few different ways. For example, you or someone you know might give them your password. Or they might use a computer or smart phone that has your log-in information saved.

An identity thief may also be able to hack into your online accounts by guessing the answers to your security questions. Any details you post to your profile - like your school and your favourite bands - may be used as clues to guess the answers to these questions. Once a person answers the security questions correctly, they can change your password and lock you out. A number of Facebook accounts have been taken over this way.

Finally, some computer viruses are programmed to record your login details and pass them along to identity thieves.

What can I do to prevent identity theft?

• Be careful with passwords. Avoid sharing them with others. Pick passwords that aren’t easy to guess, and that have a combination of numbers, symbols and capital and lower case letters.
• Be careful when picking security questions. Avoid questions that can be answered using the information on your profile. Pick questions that
  aren’t easy to guess.
• Be careful when using a public computer, or when letting other people use your computer or smart phone. Make sure to log out of your accounts on public computers, and to click "don’t remember my password". Think about setting up a pin number for your smart phone or a password for your computer so people can’t use them to getinto your accounts without your permission.
• Be careful when shopping or banking online. Avoid buying stuff on websites that seem dodgy.
• Be careful with your information on social networking sites. Avoid adding people you don’t know or trust and limit the amount of information you share.
• Be careful when clicking links or downloading files. Avoid downloading files from people or sites you don’t know or trust.
• Use antivirus software and keep it up-to-date.

For more information visit this webpage