Warning On Social Network Info
By Christopher Nickson
July 23, 2007
Credit reporting agency Equifax has warned that people are putting too much personal information on social networking sites, leaving themselves open to identity theft.
Are you putting too much information on your social networking site? Credit reporting agency Equifax has issued a warning to people.
Many people are so eager to cram details on their MySpace, Facebook, Bebo or wherever page that they’re inadvertently giving criminals the information they need for identity theft. In the U.K. alone, there were 80,000 victims of identity theft last year.
The external affairs director for Equifax, Nail Munroe, said,
“More and more consumers are signing up to these sites every day and chances are they'll put on their date of birth, location, e-mail, job and marital status. Fraudsters can use this information to steal an individual's identity and open accounts in their name.”
The advice given includes not giving your full date of birth on your page, and nor should you give the names of either your children or pets, since those are often used for passwords.