Identity theft doesn’t have to occur in the classic ways. Thanks to the advancement of technology and the appearance of social media, identity theft can be relatively easy to do thanks to social networks. The main problem nowadays is that people often overlook the dangers of sharing so much information on social media. By sharing too many pictures, for example, you are helping thieves get an insight into what you do, where you live, who you hang out with and similar.

The sad truth is that identity thefts are happening more often nowadays thanks to social media and the unwillingness of people to protect their private information and their lives. You need to understand the dangers of sharing information on social media.

How social media can lead you towards identity theft

As we mentioned before, people are unaware of the potential problems that might occur due to their willingness to share important information on social media. For example, in the video below, the victim has his account duplicated as a fictitious account posing as him.  Any information personally identifying a person, where you live, work, family members, etc. can set them up to become a victim.

Thieves can use a lot of different information that they find on your social media account. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find out until it’s too late.

Protecting your personal information on social media sites

Firstly, you should stop sharing every single detail about your life. That will make it much harder for thieves to steal any important information from you. Secondly, you could sign up and download apps that help you protect your personal information. One of these services is Metlife Defender, which has very good ratings as far as protection goes thegtarealtors.

Of course, you can stop using social media sites altogether and avoid the potential hassle of protecting information. If you can’t do this, the first two methods will act excellent. Please be very careful when sharing any information on social media sites because it can be misused!

Steps to preventing identity fraud

There’s a big number of ways to prevent identity fraud. The easiest and most common way is to limit the amount of information you share with other people. This applies to social media as well. The more information you share, the easier it is for people to steal your identity. Of course, you need to think about potential frauds and scams that could end up collecting your information and using it in a bad way. Identity frauds often have a similar format (i.e., you are the millionth visitor – you won a mobile phone – please provide your personal details).

Be very careful online and keep sensitive information to yourself unless prompted by police or similar services. If necessary, get apps that take care of this for you, so you don’t have to take as much time to protect yourself as without these apps. However, if you don’t trust the apps, you’ll need to take care of everything yourself. Stay safe!