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How Social Media Networks Facilitate Identity Theft

and Fraud
Recent research reveals that identity theft affects millions of Article by:
people a year, costing victims countless hours and money in
identity recovery and repair. What causes this pattern of
online theft and fraud? It’s a combination of factors: a lack
of consumer knowledge regarding protecting your identity
online; growing comfort with, and trust in, social platform
providers; the need for social platforms to generate
revenue; and a lack of standards or policing of these
standards. Although this issue is not yet in the mainstream Kent Lewis
consciousness, it likely will be sooner rather than later. EO Portland

Fueling the Fire

Social media sites generate revenue with targeted advertising, based on personal
information. As such, they encourage registered users to provide as much information as
possible. With limited government oversight, industry standards or incentives to educate
users on security, privacy and identity protection, users are exposed to identity theft and
fraud. Additionally, these platforms have a ton of confidential user information, and are
likely vulnerable to outside (or inside) attack. On the marketing front, Google recently
patented an algorithm to rate individual’s influence within social media. Once publicized, it
will likely encourage greater participation by active users in order to boost their influence
score.
Crimes of Opportunity

With the increased global use of social media, there are more opportunities than ever
before to steal identities or perpetrate fraud online. For example, status updates posted on
Twitter, Facebook and many other social media sites can be used by criminals. If you post
that you’re out of town on vacation, you’ve opened yourself up for burglary. If you mention
that you’re away on business for a weekend, you may leave your family open to assault or
robbery. When it comes to stalking or stealing an identity, use of photo- and video-sharing
sites like Flickr and YouTube provide deeper insights into you, your family and friends, your
house, favorite hobbies and interests.

That being said, social networking sites have the greatest potential for abuse. While
everyone knows they should never share their social security number and driver’s license,
many social networking sites ask for, if not require, similar sensitive information that can be
used against you in a variety of malicious ways. The following profile elements can be used
to steal or misappropriate your identity:

Full name (particularly your middle name)

Date of birth (often required)
Home town
Relationship status
School locations and graduation dates
Pet names
Other affiliations, interests and hobbies

Horror Stories

You’re probably asking why sharing your pet’s name, high school graduation date and
membership to an organization with the public is a potentially dangerous move. There are
a variety of reasons why you should keep personal information confidential, or at least
closely managed. Below are just a few examples of how this information can be used to
compromise your identity:

Phishing attempts using this information can be used to gain trust in order to obtain
non-public information through online conversations. A Portland, Oregon, USA,
company was recently attacked with false Better Business Bureau complaints in
order to obtain additional information about the company and its employees.
GPS-enabled phones sharing your location can reveal sensitive information like your
home address, work address and the places you visit.
Ninety-five percent of Facebook profiles have at least one application, many of
which are not reviewed and can be used for malicious and criminal purposes.
False profiles can be used to fuel resume fraud or defamation of character. A
Canadian reporter recently was defamed via a false profile that included
 misleading posts, poorly considered group memberships and intellectually
inconsistent political positions.
An American soldier abroad in Iraq discovered his bank account was repeatedly
being accessed online and drained. A security expert was able to replicate access
with nothing more than his name, e-mail and Facebook profile.

Best Practices

Before you jump online and cancel all of your social media accounts, consider that there
are ways to be smart about what you share and who you share it with. By following the
best practices outlined below, you can enjoy the benefits of social media without making
yourself a target for criminals.

Never, ever give out your social security number or driver’s license numbers.
Consider unique user names and passwords for each profile.
Vary your passwords and change them regularly.
Don’t give out your username and password to third parties (even if it helps you
connect to others and build your network).
Assuming you plan to be active in social media, minimize the use of personal
information on your profiles that may be used for password verification or phishing
attacks.
Avoid listing the following information publicly: date of birth, hometown, home
address, year of high school or college graduation, primary e-mail address.
Only invite people to your network that you know or have met, as opposed to
friends of friends and strangers.
For password security verification questions, us a password for all answers (rather
than the answer to the specific question, like “What is your mother’s maiden
name?”).
When age-shifting to protect your real birthday, keep the date close; otherwise, you
may expose yourself to age discrimination.
Watch where you post and what you say, as it can be used against you later.
Google yourself regularly and monitor your credit using the free annual report or
monthly monitoring services.

Consumers need to be educated on the proper use of social media as it relates to

protecting privacy and security. Social networks need to also understand the impact of not
addressing security and privacy issues. If the information becomes corrupted, it not only
casts doubt on the social network, but on your real-life personality, as well.​

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