12.2.4 Fraud protection and social networking

How much personal information does a fraud artist need to steal your identity or financial information from your social networking site? Not much! Fraudsters can use basic information such as your name, address and telephone number to steal your identity and gain access to your money.

Tips for staying safe on social networking sites:

• Never post anything that could be used by fraudsters, such as your full name and address, date of birth, telephone number, Social Insurance Number or details about your finances or employment.
• Learn about the security and privacy features on the site you are using, and set them to the most secure level that lets you use the features you need.
• Limit your "friends" to people you know.
• As you build your profile, ask yourself whether each piece of information could be used by a financial predator.
• Don’t trust that a message is really from whom it says. Hackers break into accounts and send messages that look like they’re from your friends.
• Don't allow social networking services to scan your email address book.
• Be careful about installing extras on your site. Criminals sometimes use these applications to steal your personal information.