6 degrees of Fraud
I recently came across a post on LinkedIn that stopped me in my tracks: an individual looking for work. It wasn't what they were doing though, it was how they were doing it. Along with a message and the tagging of multiple financial institutions was a copy of their CV; posted for all to see was their email, address, phone number, educational and professional history.
Despite being a "professional" network, LinkedIn is plagued by the same sock puppet accounts that affect virtually all social networks and anybody can create an account and view this content. In my example, the person wasn't even a contact of mine, I saw the post because of one of the tagged financial institutions (which has more than 460,000 followers) replied to the post, meaning that CV was likely seen by a large amount of people.
Unfortunately, it's not a great first impression… especially not for somebody who could potentially have access to other peoples' data if they were successful in gaining employment at one of the institutions tagged!
I messaged the individual suggesting they remove their CV from the post due to the risk in sharing their personal details into a public forum, and thankfully the following day the post was removed..... however, the next day it was back, but with some of the information redacted.... so, a partial win.
We're all guilty of doing this though. Whether it's posting a picture of us outside our house with its name/number in view or showing off the certificate we just received, we share a lot of information without always thinking about who will see it and where it will end up. Criminals can use this information in what is referred to as "cybercasing", by learning your location, travel habits and more from the comfort of their own homes.
There's lots of information we're told not to share, and it is completely understandable how frustrating it is to be that cynical about other peoples' intentions towards us, especially when it's positive in most cases. But taking a second to stop and think about the consequences is vital and can save you a lot of time, money and effort later.
Regional Finance Analyst Manager at Oracle
3 年Agree with what you mention Steve, unscrupulous people have always existed and also people who are clean of evil in their thoughts, surely they are the most easily exposed to these attacks. It is not pleasant to live worried about your back knowing that if you are careless someone will take advantage of that carelessness to make you an easy goal for their misdeeds. Fortunately we have superheroes who are always looking out for us, creating safe places to protect us from those evildoers. Thanks Steve. ??
Barrister-at-Law, Senior Investigator MetLife
3 年The craziest thing I see is people putting their birthdays up!
Looking for New Opportunities
3 年Steve Goddard, interesting observation, thanks for sharing.
Regional Commercial Lead at Featurespace Ltd
3 年Concur completely and great advice Steve. Advice we should all consider, not only for ourselves but also on behalf of those less exposed to the devious practices of the fraudsters.