Personal Information You Should Never Share on Facebook

If you have a FaceBook account, you probably know about how to set your privacy settings so that not everyone can get your information. It is important that you do not share certain pieces of personal information that could easily lead to identity theft. People fight identity theft everyday and it is not a pretty sight. It can cause you financial problems for years to come. Knowing more about specific pieces of information that could result in identity theft is extremely important in fighting back against this very invasive act.

Top Information Shared on FaceBook that Leads to Identity Theft:

Full Birth Date- Giving your full birth date gives far too much information if an identity thief is looking hard enough for other information. If someone works hard enough, they will have all the information they need to steal your identity. Getting your birthday from one place and then your address from another can be just the beginning of the process. We leave little bits of information all over the internet and before you know it, they have gotten enough information to steal your identity.

Hometown Name- When you list your hometown publicly, you may think it is innocent enough, but the truth is it can just the thing that will help someone break into your online banking accounts. The reason is that this is one of the security question that will often come up when you are setting up your online banking. It could also be a question that is asked when someone is trying to get a copy of your credit report.

Full Address- We all know that we shouldn't give out our full address on social networking sites, especially when that information is made public. It is true that a full address can be found on the internet for just about everyone in the world. That doesn't mean that you should make their job easier for them. Using your full address on a very public forum is a bad idea. This is just another easy way for identity thieves to steal from you.

Phone Number- No one should ever put their phone number on their FaceBook account. If you do put it there, you should never have it made public so that everyone can see it. It is obvious that anyone can call you and try to scam you. This is another instance where you are making the job of the scammer far too easy. Most phone numbers that go into FaceBook are cell phone numbers, which means it is generally not public knowledge until you share it with others. Once you do, you open yourself up to unnecessary risks of identity theft.

School Name- We also gladly share our old/current school name with the world when we leave this information public. This is often another security question asked when you are setting up bank accounts or other accounts on the internet. It seems like such an innocent question and you want people to be able to find you from your old school, but it could be the worst mistake of your life to make this information public so that entire world can see it.

Email Address- Your email address is another way in which scammers will try to steal your identity. Once they have hold of your email address, you start receiving spam mail. That spam mail is often mail claiming that you have won this or that amount of money. That isn't exactly the truth though. The truth is, they have gotten your email in one way or the other and they want to get more information from you by trying to trick you into sending them even more information so they can get into all of your accounts. Do not openly share your email address with the entire world. When you share your email address openly online, you will see a major increase in the number of spam emails that you get.

All of the above are ways in which people will use the information that you post on the internet to scam you. Do not share this information because a lot of it can even be used to access your bank account. It isn't worth taking the chance of getting your accounts hacked and your money stolen from you. Keep things secure. Do not respond to emails that request information such as wanting a birth certificate, social security number and other important personal information. Don't reveal anymore than you absolutely have to on the internet or anywhere else for that matter. Make your profile as private as you possibly can. Do not add people as friends that you don't know and block anyone that makes you suspicious. You just can't be too careful on the internet.