Millions of people today live continually on social media. There is no distinction of age, gender or nationality. Russian private investigators say that although sharing our daily lives online has become second nature to us, it brings a lot of serious privacy risks that can result in crimes.

What kind of risks are we talking about?

Identity theft: Most of the victims of identity theft have no idea of how a criminal was able to access their information. Many think that data breaches are responsible, and definitely data breaches are an important factor. But a lot of times we have willingly provided our personal information to strangers online. Remember that friend request you accepted? Or that person you met on a dating site? We are often too naïve regarding our social interaction on the internet. Once we feel we are connecting with someone and making a new friend, we start sharing a lot of information that we should not share. Names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, banking information and other personal details like these should never be discussed with anyone online. When criminals learn this information, they will use it for their benefit to make transactions in your name.

Fraud and scams: When people share details of their private life in social media, they are providing criminals with material to be one step ahead of them. Online criminals study their prey, they know what kind of things they like, they can see what their financial status is out of the photos shared (how their house looks, cars, travels, etc), they can learn about your family and workplace. All this information gives them material to build a profile of yourself and to manipulate you. Do you think it is coincidence that Russian lady you met online has your same interests and goals in life? It is not. Russian romance scammers are a great threat. They pick their targets, study them and then work on their strategy.

Blackmail: Blackmail’s new form on the internet, sextortion, is probably the most scary and controversial version of blackmail. It happens when people share nude photos and sexual content videos with strangers online. Once the photos or videos have been shared there is not much anyone can do. The criminal involved had already time to copy a list of your contacts in social media, and they will threaten with sharing the photo or video with everyone including your co-workers and family. If you do not want sexual content to be public, then do not trust anyone with it. Another form of blackmail that represents a great fear for many is when criminals have gathered enough information about their victim’s family, and use it to make threats to their safety. Remember that photo you shared in Facebook about your grandson’s school talent show, where you tagged the exact school he attends and added his full name? Well, that is public material that criminals can use to blackmail you. They already know about the existence of this child, their name, what school he attends and where it is located. It couldn’t be easier and we make the mistake of willingly handing this to criminals.

Caution is the key

When people understand the risks, they also understand why being cautious is so important. You do not need to learn from a bad experience, you can also take measures from the advice that experienced professionals provide and avoid being a victim yourself. Make sure you read and understand privacy settings, share as little personal information as you can in social media, and never accept invitations or friend requests from strangers. If you meet someone online that you like, then hire a professional background check investigation to make sure this is someone you can trust.

C. Wright
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