Social Networking Site Takeovers
Just about everyone has a social networking profile. It could be on Facebook, MySpace or even their own blog profile, but either way it is on the internet. With these social networking profiles consumers put their personal information out there for the world to see, including identity thieves. Social networking sites are gold mines for identity thieves for several reasons: They contain personal information about the owners, status updates can tell thieves when you are away from home, and an identity thief can take over your social networking profile to phish information from your friends and family. When it comes to social networking sites, there are two forms of takeovers: Current Account Takeover and Fraudulent Accounts.
Current Account Takeovers
A current account takeover involves a social networking profile that is already set up. That means that an individual will hack into your social networking profile and change your password in order to get access to your account. They will then message friends and family from your current account with phishing scams or other fraudulent activity. Be sure to check with family and friends in the event your account is taken over to ensure that they did not provide any information to these fraudulent groups.
Fraudulent Accounts
A fraudulent account is where an individual starts a social networking profile using your name, information and sometimes even your photographs. They then use these fraudulent accounts to contact individuals and gain their personal information. When looking for fraudulent accounts in your name, remember that just because an individual has a social networking profile with the same name does not mean they are fraudulent. Often people will have the same name as you; therefore it can only be fraudulent if they are using your name, information and other identifiers linking to you exactly.