Warning to avoid social media trends that expose your personal information

Whether it is on X, TikTok or Instagram, some social media trends push for users to share personal information in fun and creative ways. However, these trends could put you at risk of making your personal information accessible to web criminals.

This can be seen with the “get to know me” trend on Instagram, where many of the questions posed align with common security questions used by online platforms and services. Information like your birth date, favourite season and name of your pet are often used to verify your identity or reset passwords.

The viral trend started in December with a list of questions that circulated on social media, asking influencers to answer questions ranging from how many tattoos they have to what their favourite season is. Most celebrities were happy to oblige, seeing it as a way for others to get to know them better.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS?

While this might seem innocuous, the disclosure of intimate details about your life can make you vulnerable to cyberattacks, said Anna Collard, SVP content strategy at KnowBe4 Africa, a cybersecurity training designer.

“Apart from being collected, analysed and sold for advertising, your personal information, likes and behaviour profiles are interesting to fraudsters who collect the information to potentially abuse it to gain access to your accounts,” she said.

The effect of this can be seen in the 90,000 people who fell victim to social media fraud in 2021, resulting in $770m (R14.7bn at current exchange rates) in losses, according to the US federal trade commission.

“A lot of the information you’d share in a get-to-know-me post is identical to the security questions your bank might ask you,” Collard warned.

“This data is a veritable gold mine for scammers looking for a way to gain access to your accounts.”

Collard believes when fraudsters are armed with more information about you, they can use phishing emails to impersonate you or con your followers into downloading malware, fall for an investment scam or reveal too many details. They can also set up convincing fake accounts in your name, a common problem for celebrities, and then DM fans in an attempt to scam them.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

The best way to avoid the dangers is to simply not to engage in trends crafted around providing your personal information, according to Collard. She said it is important for content creators to be more authentic with their followers, but said it is important to not overshare when making these bonds. 

“You certainly don’t want people to know where you live or have stalkers follow your kids to school,” said Collard.

“Social media influencers are paid according to how big their audience is so it is understandable they want to grow their number of views by following popular trends. But this shouldn’t be done at any price, specially when it comes to divulging sensitive information.”