10 PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES IN USING THE SOCIAL MEDIA TO AVOID FRAUD AND IDENTITY THEFT

The Social Media is a great way to express oneself and to share your experiences, especially if you are far from your family. However, it’s also used by people with wicked intentions to destroy other people.   This article was written for my family. However, I realized that it would also be beneficial to share it to the public as a learning resource material.
1. Avoid publishing your family or personal photos publicly.
You might have taken the perfect selfie and excited to use it as your profile picture or cover page of your Facebook account. Your profile pictures can be restricted. However, your cover page is set to be viewed publicly. Make sure to set your profile pictures privately that only the people you know well can see and don’t use your family or personal picture as your cover page.
It’s inevitable that you might have friends whom you know but don’t trust well enough, like the one on my friends’ list who was surprised that somebody created an account in Instagram using her picture. A lot of celebrities or even ordinary people complained for having social media accounts with their names and pictures without their consent.
You can customize your friends’ list according to categories. Through this, you can easily manage the viewing policy of your profile and photos.
2. Don’t publish your complete name online.
Have you tried to google your name? If not, try it. In the US, public records can now be googled using platforms like the Intelius, etc. Your record can easily be viewed publicly which includes your real estate properties, social media accounts, companies established. Big Data with Personal Records is now a big business, especially in the U.S.
3. Don’t publish your complete address online.
You might be new to social media and excited to publish your profile including your address for your family and friends, you might be unaware that your profile is set publicly that everyone can see, including those who have malicious intentions. You can send your address via email or SMS, but make sure that your device is protected from Spyware. A Spyware is a software that hacks your personal accounts from your computer or mobile device.
4. Avoid publishing the structure or construction of your house publicly.
You might have bought or transferred to a new house that you are excited to brag to everyone and have published your address as well. You might have published the location of your windows and doors, type of windows and doors, including the type of fence and locks. Remember that you are making yourself a vulnerable target to gangsters and crime syndicates.
5. Avoid publishing the most current place you are in or where you are from and where you are going.
You might be excited on a date that you want the whole world to know where you are and where you are going. You might be going to a family reunion that the whole family is excited to go. You might have a family outing that you would bring everyone from your house. Try to hold on and publish it after and not on the same time. You are making it easier for the bandits to detect you, your family, and for them to know if no one is in your house.
6. Don’t publish your SSS number, credit card, PayPal account or any identification card online.
I’ve seen some who have published their old identification card to show how gorgeous they were on their ID. It’s alright to publish your photo but not your full name, address, school where you went, grade and the school year.

You might want to clarify your credit card or Paypal account to the customer service representative who can’t access your purchase. Beware and make sure to purchase only on reliable online companies and make sure that your computer or mobile device is free from Spyware.

A friend of mine was surprised that she has purchased items from other states in the U.S. when she gave her credit card account to a customer service representative via phone to put load on her mother’s phone.

A lot of online applications for jobs require SSS number. Don’t divulge your SSS number. Give your SSS number personally and privately to the company you think is credible.

7. Be careful in revealing your true identity in typing comments publicly.
It’s commonly stated that, every person is unique. Each has its own perspective especially in religion and politics. Your insights can be beneficial to some but harmful to many or might even put your safety in jeopardy.  Sometimes we mistakenly generalize people according to race, color, religion, family or educational background. You can’t please everyone.  You can expressively comment on an article but don’t expose your true identity like using your Facebook account in making comments or your complete name or email address that would lead to your true identity.

8. Be careful in clicking LIKE on a page, article or photo that is set publicly.
Creating a page has become a hype that other people get emotional if you didn’t like their page or photo that is set publicly, especially their Facebook page, profile picture or cover page. Your Facebook account can easily be traced according to the page, article or photo that you LIKE. It’s not about the number of likes that you have on your photo or page. At the end of the day, it is not about others, but about you. They should understand and not be affected, the same way that you should not be affected if you only have few likes and followers. You don’t have full control over them, nor your future.
9. If you are using a computer or mobile device that is not yours, make sure to clear the cached files or history of the browser.
Some computers or mobile devices are set to remember the passwords, cookies and history or the websites that you have viewed on the browser. Even if you have logged out, your Facebook or any social media accounts can still be accessed. Make sure to clear the cached files, cookies or history after you have logged out.
There are ways to clear the cached files, cookies or the history on your browser or mobile apps. Identify the browser if you are using a computer or your mobile OS/Operating System and search on how to clear cached files, cookies or history.  Like for Mozilla Firefox browser of a computer: You can clear the cached files or history on the browsers by clicking the Clear Recent History from the History menu. You can also click the clear your recent history or remove individual cookies from the Privacy tab of the Options sub-menu of the Tools menu.
Also make sure that your computer or mobile device is free from keylogger. It is a software used to store the key logs that you type on the keyboard. It’s supposed to be used by employers to monitor their employees. However, it’s sadly used by others with wicked intentions. Like for example, you can detect it using the Task Manager of your MS Windows machine. The Task Manager shows the applications and software that are processing.  If there are unfamiliar files processing in the Task Manager, google or search the file, if the file appears to be a virus, delete it.
10. Use ANTI-SPYWARE and update it regularly.
You are prone to spyware, adware and malware once you are online. So make sure to update it and scan your machine or device regularly.
You can check out more information from my previous article at

BeWARE of MALWARE

 

DISCLAIMER:
Statements were based from gathered facts from what the author has learned in different articles and experiences.  This article is to be used as information resource material for awareness against fraud.