Many people have grown accustomed to posting details about their lives on social media on a regular basis. Sharing joys, successes and mundane details of daily life has become so commonplace that it’s easy to overlook the potential dangers.
You Don’t Know Who Might See Your Posts
A large percentage of people make their social media posts public. If you’re one of them, you have no idea who may be looking at what you share online. Burglars take advantage of people’s love of sharing and use social media to identify targets.
People often receive requests to connect on social media from individuals they don’t know. If you accept such a request, you may be unwittingly giving a criminal access to sensitive personal information that can be used against you.
Things You Post Online Can Catch the Attention of Criminals
Burglars look for photos and descriptions of purchases on social media. If you share a photo of your new TV or talk about how much you love your new laptop, a criminal who sees that will know that you have a new, expensive electronic device that can easily be removed from your house and carried away.
Talking about an upcoming trip or sharing photos and videos from your vacation on social media before you return home is incredibly risky. If burglars know that you will be away from home for several days or longer, that means they will have plenty of time to find your house, figure out how to get in, study your neighbors’ routines, decide the best time to break in and carry out a burglary. You may not have a clue until you return from vacation and find your valuables gone.
Discussing your daily routine on social media can leave you vulnerable. For example, if you let everyone know that you go for a five-mile jog or bike ride at a particular time every day after your spouse leaves for work and your kids go to school, a criminal will realize that’s the ideal time to break in because your house is unoccupied.
People often share information about where they live in their online profiles. Even if you don’t share your complete address, with a city and state and your full name, a criminal can easily find out where you live.
Geotagging is another danger that many people don’t think about. If you share your location and check in when you visit a business, anyone who can see your posts will know where you are. If you’re far from home, a criminal may decide that it would be a perfect time to burglarize your house.
Think Before You Share
Social media has become such a huge part of our lives that it’s easy to post without thinking about the consequences. Before you share personal information, think about who might see it and how it could be used against you. Use privacy settings to restrict access to your posts and be careful what you share.
