Social media websites have seen immense progress over the years. Facebook and Twitter alone have a multi-billion-dollar net worth. Such platforms have fast become a norm for people to connect with their family and friends. However, the number of scams that riddle social media platforms, have made users wary of using them. The data protection laws and regulations have contributed significantly towards protecting users data and have made site owners more liable to preserve the privacy of their users. Internet frauds and scams, however, are a glaring reality that needs to be dealt with more dynamically. Some of the ways in which social media scams can be avoided in the current landscape include;
Safeguard Your Identity on Social Media
Social media is potentially heaven for criminals looking to commit identity theft. It contains every possible personal detail of a person that can be used to create fake identities. There are some safety measures SM users can take while creating their profiles. While creating social media profiles, it is essential not to give out too much information. Avoid mentioning your full date of birth, if at all. If possible use your nickname instead of your full name that appears on your official documents. Make sure to check out what measures are taken by a website to protect users’ privacy and data. As most SM platforms rely on passwords or two-factor authentications, at most, try and develop as strong passwords as you can. Try to use unique phrases that you can remember easily.
Once you have created your profile make sure to connect with people you know and trust. Fraudsters can often pose as your close friends and family to try and get your personal information. SM users must always take care of what they share on their profiles. Any details regarding your life that can provide information to fraudsters regarding your online accounts’ security questions, should be avoided. Also, refrain from sharing your passwords, SSN, account numbers or passport details through direct messages – or otherwise – even to your closest family or friends.
Improve Your Privacy Settings
Owing to the number of frauds and scams that have penetrated social media, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have greatly improved their privacy settings. They have made them more personalised to suit individual users’ preferences. It is therefore up to the user to make sure they are properly regulating the privacy of their SM profiles. An SM user can also go so far as to control who can contact them. More importantly, users must make sure that all personal information is shared carefully as whatever is posted on the internet stays on it forever and does not simply go away by deletion.
Accept Friend Requests Only From People You Know
Under the guise of socialising, users can get excited about meeting new people and making more friends. However, on the internet, you cannot really tell who is on the other end of a conversation. You may end up talking to someone who is pretending to be your friend or family member. Therefore, it is essential to be careful while adding someone to your friends’ list. Only add the people you have at least met in person and know to some extent. Also, make sure the profile is a genuine one and is not made to mimic someone you know.
Avoid Oversharing
Oversharing on social media can be costly. Most of the information obtained by criminals who commit identity theft and credit card fraud is taken from social media websites. Most people have enough general sense not to share details like social security numbers, passwords, or other similar details. However, scammers tend to be clever and can manage to work with details like name, date of birth and your family information. Thus, one should always take care about sharing personal details on SM. At the very least, make your birth year, if not your entire DOB, private along with obscuring other sensitive details. All such details can be used by fraudsters to gain access to your other accounts.
Practice Care With Financial Transactions
Certain SMa platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and Gmail have options to send money to friends. Facebook is increasingly being used by e-commerce businesses as a mode of conducting their trade. However, financial transactions must be dealt with care on SM. Online companies are increasingly making use of industry leading ID verification services to authenticate users and their credentials. Identity checks allow businesses to ensure their customers are using legitimate credentials and are not committing identity theft of any kind.
Refrain from Clicking on Suspicious Links
We often come across links and posts on social media that appeal us and we end up clicking on them to learn more. Same is the case with certain ads that appear on our news feed. Nevertheless, such links often contain malware or malicious content. Users must, therefore, practice caution before clicking on such links. Such links can appear as interesting news articles or can appear as subscription offers that ask for your personal information. That information can then be used by scammers to gain access to your accounts.
