Search: More on protection against identity theft
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- Tips on avoiding identity theft
Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Friends Reunited just keep on getting better and better, with more ways of staying in touch with friends and sharing all the useful sites, downloads and media you've found. Unfortunately, this also means that criminals have more and more opportunities to part you from your cash ¢ and even your identity.
Karina Wells was using her Facebook account when she received a message from one of her friends in trouble. He needed help to buy a ticket home from Lagos, where he was stranded.
This was unsettling enough but Karina began to get suspicious when he referred to a 'cell phone' rather than a mobile. She twigged that her friend's account had been hijacked.
"I pretended that I would help, obtained all the details of where he was and forwarded them to both Facebook and the relevant authorities," says Karina.
But criminals are crafty and will soon learn to use the right language in their messages. They'll do anything they can to learn as much as they can about you - so they can use your ID to set up credit card and loan accounts in your name or take over your existing accounts.
While you won't mind being poked, you will mind if you're phished. Take these precautions to stay safe online.
1) Don't assume only your friends will see your pages
Paris Hilton did and regretted it. After a big night out at the Emmy awards, Paris put up a set of pictures of her and her brother Nicholas drinking beer. They were supposed to be seen only by her online Facebook friends but a Canadian computer expert, Byron Ng, fooled the system and gained access.
Ironically, he did so as a result of a Facebook security upgrade. To rub salt in the wound, Ng also got into Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg¢e pages and viewed his personal photos before telling Facebook about it. Facebook has since closed the loophole but hackers are always out there ¢ and if it can happen to someone as famous as Paris Hilton or to Facebook's CEO, it can happen to you.
2) Never give away personal information
If you've put up your full name, e-mail address, contact numbers, date of birth or your pet's, mother's or partner's real names on your network page, take them off.
Those details are enough for a fraudster to steal your identity and make a reasonable guess at the passwords protecting your bank and credit card accounts.
Use your network settings to restrict access to your pages to your closest friends. Don¢t put up anything you really want to keep private and consider restricting who can post messages and see your wall - your friends might inadvertently post something that might be useful to a criminal.
3) Be wary of invitations to download files and videos
Sharing your favourite mpegs or images can be great fun - but viruses can be hidden in them. One current scam is a so-called friend advising you to download the latest pdf reader. While it looks like the real deal, in fact it's a Trojan virus that takes confidential information from your computer and sends it to an ID fraud gang.
Viruses can be hidden in any type of file, so call your friend if he or she sends you a download or web site link via your inbox or a posting to your wall ¢ the download or link might be dodgy.
You wouldn't open an attachment if a stranger e-mailed you out of the blue but nowadays, you can't even be certain that a message in your inbox has really come from the person it says it's from and doesn't, in fact, lead to a virus or spider looking for your data.
4) Go for quality rather than quantity
It's nice to have friends and an ego boost to have hundreds of online friends - but remember that they might not be genuine. The more people you blindly trust, the more likely it is that some of them will be there only to gather information on you.
If someone claims to be a friend of a friend, check. Never accept a friendship invitation from someone unfamiliar.
5) Don't share passwords
It might sound obvious but some people still do it. Don't be tempted to give out your password to anyone, even to allow a real friend to look at your photos or check messages for you.
Facebook specifically recommends that users never share access passwords with anyone ¢ not even your boyfriend, girlfriend or best friend. There is always a risk that someone will abuse your trust. For example, they might post distressing or offensive pictures as a joke or add personal information you'd rather keep private ¢and could be enough for an ID fraud.
6) Check your ID is safe
Use an online service to keep an eye on your credit report. This is the personal history of credit you have taken out, such as loans, credit cards, mortgages and mobile phone contracts. Lenders search it and leave a record whenever you apply for credit, so you can see if anyone has been trying to borrow money or buy things on credit in your name.
CreditExpert, the UK's leading credit monitoring and identity fraud protection service, alerts you by text or e-mail whenever there is any significant change to your credit report that could indicate attempted identity fraud ¢ and if the worst happens, there are free helplines staffed by credit and identity fraud specialists. You can check your Experian credit report with a free trial now.
7) Ignore e-mail petitions
These are usually about worthy causes and ask you to sign the petition and pass it on to your friends through inmails or ordinary e-mails. Often they will contain a detail asking the 700th or 1,000th signatory to e-mail the petition to a particular address.
In fact, these are either hoaxes or messages sent out by spam or ID fraud gangs. Eventually, they get back the lists of names and valid e-mail addresses, which helps spammers. Some unsuspecting people also leave in their e-mail footers containing their home addresses and telephone numbers, which can be enough for ID fraudsters to impersonate them.
8) Don't take short cuts with your online safety
If you need to access your online bank, credit card account or building society, type in the address or use your bookmark - never click on a link in an e-mail. That could take you straight to a clone site run by criminals.
Never use a telephone number from a financial institution given in an e-mail - that could be part of a con, too. Take a couple of seconds to look it up. And take the time to update your security and virus software. If you haven't yet got around to installing anti-spyware programs, do so now.
And if you're accessing your social network account or any other account at an Internet cafe or WiFi location, make sure you're not overlooked - crooks can shoulder-surf you to note your passwords.
