Millions of people have an online presence through various social networking sites and other communication channels – the ease with which you can share and find information attracts a lot of consumers and businesses alike. Of course, this also attracts scammers and identity thieves. A business that engages consumers through social media channels will most likely have a social media policy for employees. In the same vein, consumers should develop their own social media policies. Setting rules and guidelines before going online is a deterrent to making mistakes that can divulge sensitive information or personal identifying information (PII).

Consider following these policies:

• Never reveal things like Social Security number (SSN), birth date or address in your online profile.
• Never reveal passwords, logins, or other PII when prompted to do so via email or instant message.
• Use caution when completing seemingly innocent profiles or quizzes. A fraudster might be able to use that information to answer security questions set up to protect other accounts belonging to you.
• Beware of practicing transitive trust. This happens when we click on something because it came from a person or a website that we trust. Scams that target social media sites rely on such trust.
• Utilize the privacy settings provided by the website and read the website’s privacy policy carefully.

Tags: identity theft, PII, privacy policies, Social Media

Categories: Consumer ID Security.