Identity Theft And Social Networking Sites
Author: Bernard Pragides

Identity theft is becoming a serious problems in all corners of
the globe, and with the advancement of technology like the
internet, new ways to steal your identity are coming about every
day. It is becoming harder and harder to protect yourself from
this crime and ensuring your personal data is safe is becoming a
constant struggle. You wouldn't want to give your personal
details to a complete stranger, but the reality is, you are
doing this every time you sign up to a social networking site.

This really occurs mostly with the younger generation that use
these social networking sites as a way of meeting new people and
communicating with their friends. On signing up to these sites,
they are asked to provide names, addresses, contact telephone
numbers, dates of birth and schools they attended. This sort of
information is being viewed by people that are viewing their
profiles, and only a few of the sites have a scheme where your
profile cannot be viewed unless you specifically add them as a
friend. Many of the users of the sites add other users as
friends with no real idea who they are. That is the worst thing
about the internet, it allows you to be who you want to be and
come up with characters.

Think of the ways that these social networking sites can be
used as a focus for identity theft. The majority of the users
post their birth date and this is a question commonly asked by
banks to determine a person's identity. Combined with the full
name and also things like pet names, Mother's maiden name and
other such information, it doesn't take a genius to work out the
rest. Not only can information be stolen this way, but names can
be searched on internet search engines and information can be
found that way. A person could also try to be added to your
friends list, without you actually knowing who they are and
discreetly ask questions in conversations, such as home address,
and other personal information that can be used to perform
identity theft.

This carefree attitude to private details not only puts the
users of the sites at risk, but also the people that they live
with are put wide open to the risk of identity theft. If a child
or young person gives away personal information over the
internet on these social networking sites, their parents or
guardians are at an increased risk of identity theft. A few
carefully asked questions, randomly dropped into conversation
are encouraging the users of these sites to give away details
that they wouldn't normally give away. What's your Dad's name?
Where do you live? When's your birthday? How old are you? A
pattern emerges. These are questions that could commonly be seen
as friendly conversation, but can very often lead to the
exchange of details that could potentially be used in the cases
of identity theft.

The unbelievable thing is that many of these sites have been
under scrutiny in the media for the public access of personal
information, but still it goes on. More and more people are
signing up under recommendation of their friends and family
meaning that thousands, sometimes millions, of people are left
wide open to the risks that identity thieves that may be
operating can pose.


About The Author: Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard
Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft.
Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his blog
at http://www.LifeLockblog.com for more helpful information.