NCPW: Teens and Social Media
March 2010But they are also remarkably unsavvy about identity theft and other fraud dangers that lurk within those devices and media.
The Federal Trade Commission says that in 2009, 20 percent of all identity theft complaints it received were from people 29 and under.
And a new study on identity theft released by Javelin Strategy and Research in February 2010 pointed to so-called “millennials” — people aged 18 to 24 — as the most likely victims of account misuse through social media Web sites like Twitter and Facebook. Javelin’s report suggested a possible reason, beyond that age group’s high use of social media: 18- to 24-year-olds take nearly twice as many days to detect fraud compared to other groups, and thus are fraud victims for longer periods of time.
So what’s up, here? How can younger people so technologically aware be so technologically unaware?
Experts say it’s a combination of frequency, a relative lack of wealth, and of naiveté.
Teens converse and share information constantly on social media Web sites like Facebook, Twitter and others. They may worry less about anyone stealing from them because they think they have less to be stolen — a checking account with a whopping $79, for instance. Meanwhile, they are less likely than older adults to be regularly checking their bank account balances or their credit reports, as Javelin’s study pointed out.
But an identify thief doesn’t care so much about the $79. He does care about finding the information that will allow him to take out a $30,000 loan in the teenager’s name — with the teenager possibly not discovering the fraud for months or years.
And teenagers, by mobile messaging and broadcasting their whereabouts to friends on Twitter and other sites, could be inadvertently alerting the world when they and their parents are not at home — a home whose address the teenager might have shared elsewhere in their Web world. (A new Web site called www.pleaserobme.com points out the problems with telling the online world where you are in real time.)
So the FTC and other experts offer a few recommendations. They apply to everyone — but teenagers and young adults might need to pay special attention.
- Review privacy and user policies on social media Web sites — and set your preferences to limit access by strangers.
Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings. Consider not joining any site that allows the latter and restrict access to your page to people whom you know.
- Do not reveal too much personal information.
It’s more than obvious that you shouldn’t list your bank account or credit card numbers online — and that you shouldn’t reply to a text or e-mail, supposedly from your bank or credit card company, asking for them.
But you also should avoid revealing information like your full name (including your middle name), your birth date, your driver’s license number, and your mother’s maiden name. Even revealing your hometown in combination with your year of birth can create real problems. Why? The first five numbers in your Social Security number are based on those two pieces of information.
- Remember this before you post: online is forever.
Even if and when you delete information from a Web site, the deleted information exists within the technological ether. And it’s accessible to people who are looking for it and know where to find it. So think about that before you post it in the first place.
IdentityTheft911.org joins a group of federal, state, and local government agencies and national consumer organizations to launch the 12th annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 7-13, 2010.
NCPW 2010 — Dollars and Sense: Rated A for All Ages — highlights the importance of using good consumer sense at every stage of life – from grade school to retirement. The purpose of NCPW is to promote free resources to help people protect their privacy, manage money and debt, avoid identity theft, understand credit and mortgages, and steer clear of frauds and scams.
IdentityTheft911.org will publish an article every day this week dedicated to heightening consumer awareness surrounding the more pressing identity theft issues at various life stages.
Visit Identity Theft 911’s resource center and www.consumer.gov/ncpw for more consumer tips.
©2003-2010 Identity Theft 911, LLC. All rights reserved.
