Social media scams are on the rise and young individuals are being targeted regularly. Being a victim of any social media scam can impact your life for many years. Whether you use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, or others, fraudsters are there too. Below are some important tips to protect yourself from frauds and scams while using social media.
DON'T:
- Never share your online banking username or password with anyone. If someone asks for your credentials, it’s fraud. Your credit union will never call and ask you for this information.
- Never share your debit card PIN number.
- Never agree to “send money back” to any individual in return for a direct deposit or check deposit.
- Do not share your login credentials for ANY APP with another individual. This is your private information and there’s NEVER a good reason to share it.
DO:
- Be extremely cautious about anyone that approaches you about a job on social media. Most legitimate employers do not recruit via social media.
- Learn what information is really needed to set up a direct deposit. Sharing your online banking credentials is NOT NEEDED to set up a direct-deposit or a person-to-person transfer.
- Use complex passwords with letters, numbers, and symbols that would be impossible for others to guess.
- If you think you are the victim of fraud, notify your credit union right away.
- Protect your debit and credit cards by using card control apps to set spending limits, lock your cards, set up purchase alerts, and more.
For more tips and information on how to avoid becoming a victim of a scam or fraud, visit sunward.org/SecurityArticles.
