Nashville, TN., April 15, 2020 – Posting your senior year photo from high school started as a tribute to seniors who are missing traditional celebrations and the usual end of high school due to coronavirus. The trend has continued and evolved into many other social media quizzes and “get to know me” posts have been perpetuated by the people increasing reliance on social media for connecting with others.
It may seem innocent, minus the embarrassment caused by your style choices in high school or your first car. However, “what high school did you attend,” and “what was your first car?” are two of the most common security questions.
With that information, Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Middle TN and Southern KY are warning that con artists can use answers to find more information about people. The data gained based on the responses posted online could potentially give a con artist access to someone’s accounts.
BBB also warns against taking Facebook quizzes, as they can mine your answers for data about you. Not all social media quizzes are data collection scams, but BBB cautions users to be careful about what they share online.
Tips to avoid social media scams:
- Be skeptical: Before you take a quiz, figure out who created it. Is it a brand you trust? Just because something appears to be fun and innocent, doesn’t mean there isn’t an inherent risk.
- Adjust privacy settings: Review your social media account’s privacy settings and be strict about what information you share – and be mindful of who you are sharing it with.
- Remove personal details from your profile: Don’t share information like your phone number or home address on social media accounts.
- Don’t give answers to common security questions: Be cautious if the questions in a quiz ask for things like your mother’s maiden name, the street you grew up on, or the name of your high school.
- Monitor Friend Requests. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know. Also, be wary of a second friend request from someone you are already connected with; the second profile may be an imposter trying to access your data and your Friends list.
For more information about scams in the wake of coronavirus, see BBB.org/Coronavirus.
