True story

Personal information posted in your profile on social networks is an easy target for identity thieves.

Country: Canada

Year: 2007

Background: A student at the University of Prince Edward Island was suspected of wanting to commit mass murder because of a bogus profile posted on Facebook.

Consequences: The student was interrogated at length by police about his plan to commit mass murder like the one in 1999 at Columbine school in the United States. Following the verification of his computer, he was found innocent.

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Social networks

Online social networks are virtual communities linking people that want to share interests, activities and a few information. They are virtual meeting places that allow people to communicate with each other using different online tools such as instant messaging, blogs and discussion forums.

Examples of social networks: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter

Caution

A fraudster may:

  • Pretend to be someone else to earn your trust and then harass you or damage your reputation
  • Spy on your communications to obtain personal information and impersonate you
  • Send you malwares

How can you protect yourself?

  • Do not post any personal information in your profile
  • Do not provide any personal information during your conversations
  • Protect your parents' and friends' privacy by not providing any personal information about them
  • Beware of strangers
  • Protect yourself from worms, Trojan horses, spywares, or any other malware.
  • Use instant messaging cautiously
  • Use blogs and discussion forums cautiously
  • Read carefully the website's privacy policy about personal information protection and make sure you understand it
  • See what are the website's default security settings

References

 

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