Lately, a lot of people have been participating in challenges and questionnaires on social media that encourage you to post information about your personal life.
Some recent ones include, “Share a picture of every car you have ever owned,” or “Share the last ten cities you have lived in.” These posts seem fun, but things aren’t always as they seem.
You are sharing information about yourself that could help others gain access to your personal information. A very common security question is, “What was the make or model of your first vehicle?” Other challenges and questionnaires ask things like:
- Your mother’s maiden name
- Where you attended school
- Where you were born
- Where you met your spouse
All of these could be questions asked to identify yourself for verification when accessing your online banking and other online accounts.
As fun as these challenges/questionnaires may seem, we encourage you not to participate and protect your personal information. Be especially wary of posts that ask you to copy and paste the post, as it allows your profile to show up in a Facebook search of the copied and pasted information depending on your privacy settings on your posts and profiles.
Also, make sure to check your account settings. Sometimes things default to public, so anyone can see them, not just those that you are friends with.
Please don’t make it easy for hackers to obtain your personal information through social media questionnaires.
Stay Safe & Healthy!
