Social media sites can serve as an entryway for all kinds of fraudsters, scammers, thieves, and phishers. You must protect yourself from these criminals trying to steal your information and prying online eyes trying to learn a lot about you via social media snooping.
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- Limit who can view your information. You can often restrict who can view your information – from “anyone or public” to just “acquaintances or friends”
- Be extremely wary of fake profiles and people who try to connect with you on social networks
- Be on the lookout for phishing attempts (attachments, payment instructions to a new address, directives to change your password, etc.) Never click these links, rather go directly to the website and perform the action from within the website.
- Recognize fraudulent email warning signs (poor spelling, poor grammar, urgent or odd language, vague or unusual addresses)
- Keep all your security software up-to-date
- If you think any of your accounts have been compromised, change your passwords immediately
- Avoid using the same password you use for social media websites on your online banking website
- Limit the amount of information you share on social networks