The holidays are here and people are out shopping, attending parties and enjoying friends and family during this festive time. If you're a social media junkie, you are probably updating your Facebook or Twitter accounts to let everyone know what you're doing and where you're going. One or more of these 'friends' that you connect with on these sites might be making good use out of your updates...as a burglar.
You may not know it, but you might be getting social with the wrong people. Do you check who is following you on Twitter or do you just love having lots of followers without ever reading a bio? When someone requests to be your 'friend' on Facebook, do you check to see if they are friends with people you know personally or do you just add them to your growing list?
Every time you post excitedly about that shopping trip to the mall or big party you will be at all night everyone in your network can read about it. Even the wrong people.
A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found nearly four in ten, or 38 percent, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33 percent details of a weekend away.
"Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be 'friends' online with people they don't really know, this presents a serious risk to the security of people's home and contents," said the insurer.
Not only are your updates tempting to a burglar, but your photos are as well! Perhaps you had a party at your home or you just bought a 42" HDTV for your living room at a Black Friday sale. You upload the pictures to Facebook or Twitter and everyone gets to see what's in your house. Including the person who just put you on the list of potential targets when you're out for the night ...or away on your next tropical vacation.
An experiment conducted by Legal & General to see how easily social media users accept new friends. Of 100 'friend' or 'follow' requests issued to strangers selected at random, 13 per cent were accepted on Facebook and 92 per cent on Twitter, without any checks.
Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who appears in BBC's "Beat The Burglar" series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.
As well as information about trips away, people were posting party photos showing the interiors of homes and also chatting about their cool new purchases and presents.
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that burglars are using social networks to develop relationships with people to identify likely targets," stated Fraser. "They gain confidence by learning more about them, what they are likely to own and when they are likely to be out of the house, and then target appropriate victims."
“I call it ‘internet shopping for burglars’, Michael continued, "It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home using other internet sites like Google Street View, all from the comfort of the sofa. It scares me to see how many people are prepared to give away valuable information about themselves, to people they simply don't know well enough – if at all."
This does not mean you should stop using Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps it is just a wake-up call to be a bit more savvy when it comes to choosing your friends and followers.
Going to a site that allows you to get '1500 new followers overnight" is not only a terrible way to find followers, it might land you the one follower who puts your home on a burglar's target list.
Be smart when accepting friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. Taking the time to be choosy about who you communicate with might just help you keep a burglar out of your neighborhood.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
source: Legal&General Media Center
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