Released by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services …
Identity Theft Protection Tip: Beware of social media scams asking you to “verify your account.”
In May 2019, it was revealed that Instagram’s website leaked contact information of users over a four-month period. This information was gathered and stored on an unsecured database by the India-based marketing company Chtrbox. The data contained phone numbers and email addresses of individuals, businesses and even minors.
Unfortunately, there has been an increase in unprotected databases hosted online leaving many people with their information exposed without their knowledge. And, the more criminals find out about you, the more likely they can impersonate you or trick you into falling for a scam.
With the increased frequency of data breaches and unprotected databases, it’s important to always be on your toes.
While you can’t do much about the unprotected databases, you can make sure you are doing everything in your power to minimize your risks. This includes being selective with what information you disclose online when signing up for social media accounts and always making sure your profiles is set to the highest privacy settings.
It’s also important to have strong passwords and change them often.
Visit the Identity Theft Resource Center for more information.