Online Social-Networking / ID Theft

If you’re a fan of Facebook, and an active user of the social-networking site, then you might be at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. A story by the Miami Herald detailed all the ingenious ways that cyber criminals can steal your identity by using Facebook as the bait. The Herald story cites this popular scam: You’ll find a message in your Facebook inbox from either someone you don’t recognize or someone you rarely talk to. The subject line might be something like, “Is this you in this video?” When you open the message, you’ll find a link to a Web site. If you click on it, your computer will download a program that collects your personal information and then sends it across the Internet, where cyber criminals will happily collect it.

Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft

As social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have exploded in popularity, the risk of identity theft has skyrocketed. But social networkers can take steps to protect themselves. And most of these require little more than common sense. For instance, if you get an e-mail message in your Facebook inbox from someone you don’t recognize, delete it without opening it. If your curiosity gets the better of you and you can’t resist clicking open the message, don’t click on any links in the message. These links often lead to programs that will download your personal information. Be wary, too, of invitations to Facebook events from people you don’t recognize. Often these fake invites will take you to Web pages that look like Facebook events, but are actually Web sites that download malicious software onto your computer.