blue_with_website-225x30022By Katie Burgoyne

Social media is a great outlet to engage with family and friends, but are you sharing too much in the process?  Identity theft can occur with only a few key pieces of your personal information.  And now, courtesy of social media profiles, that information is easier than ever to steal.  For example, an average Facebook profile lists a person’s name, date of birth, and hometown.  So already you have provided a thief with crucial information they need to steal your identity.

The most effective way to protect yourself from identity theft is to make your social profile private.  As well, consider the information your putting on your site. Does your friend of a friend really need to know your home address?  Probably not.  The more personal details you withhold, the safer you will be.

Check out NextAdvisor’s infographic below that presents some alarming statistics about identity theft on social media sites.

na infographic v3 1k 1 Identity Theft on Social Media: Are You at Risk?

To read the full article, visit http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/2013/04/02/are-we-revealing-too-much-about-ourselves-on-social-media.

 

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