Stay Safe on Social Media With These Tips

There’s no doubt that at this point, you likely have at least one social media account, if not multiple accounts on different platforms. Social media can be a great thing. It can help you stay connected with friends and family, discover new trends, follow your favorite sports teams, and much more. However, your social media profiles also need to be managed responsibly. At Security Bank^USA, we encourage you to follow these tips.

Set up Strong Passwords and Security Questions

The same rule applies to your email, online banking, and other online accounts.

Recommendation: Create a unique password for each social network you use. Never share your username or password with anyone.

Be Selective with your Friend Requests

If feels great to rack up followers on social media networks, however follow your gut! 

Recommendation: If you are getting requests from names you’ve never heard of, multiple requests of the same person, or requests from profiles that look fake, don’t accept them. These account may be set up to gather information on users and send spam messages. 

Limit the Amount of Publicly Available Personal Information

Social media profiles can be a treasure trove of information for people looking to impersonate you and steal elements of your identity. Think of your Facebook profile. By simply clicking your profile, someone can see things like your full name, birthday, a list of your favorite music groups and movies, relatives, and much more depending on how complete your profile is.

Recommendation: Change the settings on your social media accounts to limit how much information is publicly facing. If possible, you should limit that information strictly to people who you approve to be on your friends list. If you publish a post with your exact location, someone can find you. Never publish your phone number, address (unless you’re a business) or any account numbers. Anything you publish online stays there forever. Everything you share could be seen by future employers or by people out to get you. 

Use the Strongest Privacy Settings 

Each social network has different settings. Ensure you understand what information you are sharing and with whom you are sharing with!

Recommendation: Set up the strongest privacy setting!

Be Mindful of Links

 We tend to think phishing links come from text messages and emails. Social media can be just as bad! 

Recommendation: If you receive an offer that seems too good to be true don’t click on it! If you receive a message and link with spelling or grammatical errors, those are also indicators that the message is fraudulent. Once you click on it the fraudulent link, the publisher can track you on both social media and through your web browser. 

Look for more Social Media tips in the future!