October 14 2007

Facebook: social media habits help fraudsters.

The open-for-all habits exhibited by users of Social Networking Platforms like Facebook leave them easy prey to fraudsters, according to new research from Equifax. Date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses and other personal information over users' home pages... easy pickings!

Major new Equifax survey in support of National Identity Fraud Prevention Week reveals that 63% present their email address on a plate for phishers ("phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication", saith Wikipedia).

Anyone over 18 years old who's looked at  social networking sites will have been amazed at the casual way users freely offer up dates of birth, email addresses, phone and other personal information. While the networks deserve some criticism for suggesting that people complete this information on their profiles (and than making the whole "how to manage the security of your profile" so difficult), users themselves must shoulder blame for being so dim as to give this information.

The Fraud Prevention industry has worked hard to educate people about work security (oooh, let's put our passwords on a post-it note on our monitors...) and safeguarding personal information (advertise your PIN number to all as you key it into a terminal at a supermarket, why don't you?) there's an apparent blindness when it comes to social networking. Surely, no nasty people with evil intent would be lurking amidst the fun and bonhomie of Facebook?

Well, the Key Findings show us that:
·         31% of social networkers do not use security and privacy settings
·         63% make their email address public
·         Female social networkers are more careful than men with their personal contact details
·         But more women give their date of birth on social network sites – an easy route to ID fraud
·         Male social networkers more free and easy with their email and telephone number than women
·         Younger generations are more casual with personal information than those in their 40s and 50s
·         Social networkers in the South East are the most profligate with their email
·         Scottish social networkers take the most care of their personal email
·         26% of social networkers in the Midlands put their telephone number on sites
·         Northern social networkers most likely to give away partner's details.

The survey didn't state whether these Northern Social Networkers gave away their partner's details out of naivete or for personal profit at the expense of a loved one - I think we should be told!

by Ian Jindal