Scam alerts issued by the BBB

Thinking of sharing your senior photo on a social media site? Think twice.

It seems harmless and fun, a bunch of friends on social media are sharing their senior portraits, including the high school name and graduation year, to support the graduating class of 2020 (most of whom are at home because of the coronavirus pandemic).

But the Better Business Bureau (BBB) cautions you to watch out because scammers or hackers who surf through social media sites will see these #ClassOf2020 posts, and will have the name of your high school and graduation year, which are common online security questions. All it takes is an internet search to reveal more information about you, such as family members, your real name, birthdate or even where you live.

The BBB cautions everyone to be aware of what they are sharing. Even if you think it’s just going to your friends, it could also be going somewhere else.

Other recent viral personal list posts include all the cars you’ve owned (including makes/model years), favorite athletes, and top 10 favorite television shows.

What most people forget is that some of these “favorite things” are commonly used passwords or security questions. If your social media privacy settings aren’t high, you could be giving valuable information away for anyone to use.

If you’re bored at home, the agency also cautions against taking that social media quiz because it too may be a scam. The scam begins innocently, according to the agency.

You see a fun quiz on a social media platform. What’s the harm, you figure? You answer a few questions and prove how well you know a friend. Or you take a short personality test to match with a character from your favorite TV show.

These quizzes ask seemingly silly or meaningless questions, but scammers can use that information for nefarious purposes. For example, some quizzes collect personal information by asking questions like: “What is your mother’s maiden name?” or “What is the name of the street you grew up on?”  These are common security questions for banking and credit card accounts. Sharing this information can lead to your accounts being hacked, and your personal and financial information being stolen.

Not all social media quizzes are data collection scams, but BBB cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Social media data and quiz answers can be used to steal your identity or enable a scammer to impersonate you to your friends and family.

BBB offers the following tips to keep you safe on social media and to ensure you 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.

Resist the temptation to play along. While it’s fun to see other’s posts, if you are uncomfortable participating, it is best to not do it.

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, 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.

Change security questions/settings. If you are nervous about something you shared possibly opening you up to fraud, review and change your security settings for banking and other websites.