Check your privacy settings on your social media accounts, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona warns. Scammers are using the personal data shared through Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to pose as your friends in personalized, fraudulent emails.

How the Scam Works:

You receive an email that appears to be from a friend or family member. The message addresses you by name, but the content is strange. Usually, it’s just a link to a website. If you click on it, you could end up downloading malware on to your computer.

Scammers find your information through your social media accounts and then exploit the fact that you’re more likely to click on a link sent by a friend. Some scammers set up fake accounts and send out friend requests to gain access to your personal information. Others rely on social media users not locking down their privacy settings, so their basic information, such as their name, email address and friends’ names, can be seen by the public.

To protect your personal information shared on social media:

• Review your security settings. Check your privacy setting on all your social media accounts to ensure you aren’t sharing personal information with strangers.
• Be cautious of accepting friend requests from unknown people. This could be a scammer’s attempt to gain access to your personal information.
• Don’t overshare. Limit what personal information you share on your social media pages and avoid posting any personal information that could potentially be used fraudulently, such as your email address, phone number and address.
• Report scam profiles or suspicious activity. Some social sites, such as Facebook, have instructions on how to report fake accounts or accounts that violate the terms of the site.
• Consider enabling login notifications. This security feature will send you an alert every time your account is accessed from a new device.
• Protect your information when using public Wi-Fi. Before using public Wi-Fi to access your Facebook account, text “otp” to 32665 to receive a temporary password to log in to your account.

If you receive a suspicious email:

• Don’t click on strange links. Even if the email came from a trusted friend or family member, do not click on any link in an email that might seem suspicious. If you have any reservations, notify the person who sent you the email to confirm what they sent and if they really sent the message.
• Check the email address of the sender. Even though a friend’s name is in the “from” field, spam email won’t always be sent from his or her email address.

Protect your computer. Keep your anti-virus software up to date. If you click on a link, be sure to run a virus scan on your computer right away

Technology evolves at lightning speed. As soon as we buy a new computer, it’s obsolete. There is a new operating system every week, and we are eating Facebook’s dust on a regular basis. Even more difficult to keep up with than the ever-changing landscape of technology, though, is the fast-paced world of the hackers and con-artists that inhabit the friendly pages of Facebook.

These “super-villains” cannot be thwarted by security setting changes or heightened awareness. They stay steps ahead of Facebook’s constant attempts to block them from the site. They even seem to come back stronger with each attempt. Lately, the Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona has noticed that these scams and their consequences have only become more prevalent on the leading social media site in the last few months. We want to help, so here is a breakdown of the Facebook “super-villains,” and their kryptonite.

• The Clickjacker. These scammers often appear after a big news story lands in the media. Seen recently in the aftermath of Bin Laden’s death and the Casey Anthony verdict, hackers present Facebook users with the opportunity to view an “exclusive” video. Once you click to see the (more…)

Online security and privacy concerns with social media sites such as Facebook have led users to question which websites they trust with their personal information.  Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona provides consumers with questions they should ask before disclosing personally identifiable information on any website.

The privacy policies of financial institutions, insurance companies and Healthcare providers are commonly provided to website users, however; consumers are not as likely to ask for the privacy policy of the sites they visit on a regular basis.  Even if a site has a privacy policy, many consumers find it difficult to navigate the terms and are not sure what to look for when reviewing a site’s privacy policy and practices.

“The Internet is a resource for sharing information and you are the best protector of your privacy by controlling what information you share,” said Kim States, BBB President. “The first thing to consider before disclosing personal information online is whether or not you want that information public.  If not, then the best solution is to keep that information offline.  After determining what content you will share, research how a site will use your personal information now, and if they will let you know when changes are made in the future.”

BBB suggests consumers get answers to the following questions before providing their information to any online shopping, social networking or location-based website to keep their personal information safe:

• What information is collected? Will the site collect your demographic information if you provide it?  Will it track your habits and what pages you visit?
• How is the information collected? Will the website collect information automatically through tracking technology such as cookies, or only if you provide the information?  Websites use cookies to place small text files on your computer that may be used to track your purchases, the pages you visit, or the ads you click on.  This information can be sold to marketers.
• How is the information used? Will it be shared with a third-party advertiser?  Will other users have access to this information if they have an account with the same social media site?  Will your spending habits with an online shopping site be shared with advertisers?
• Who will have access to the information? Does the site share the consumer’s information with other sites online, other companies, or with affiliates within the same corporate family?
• What security measures are used to protect your personal information? Security measures should be used to keep the user’s personal information, including login and password, safe.
• Who is accountable for the privacy practices? Are you comfortable with the website’s privacy policy?  Does the website privacy policy give you someone to contact with questions or concerns?

If a company has a privacy policy, it may not mean the consumer’s personal information is protected.  It is important for consumers to keep in mind that there are no universal guidelines for the content of privacy policies.  Consumers are their own best defense in protecting their information online and the best way to do so is recognizing what information will be shared.

For more information on staying safe online, visit http://tucson.bbb.org/consumer-tips-technology/.