There are about 483 million internet users in India, out of which 326.1 million are active social media users as of August 2018. For most of us there would be at least a few hundreds or thousands of ‘friends’ in our friend list. But, how many of them do you know personally? We add those we know, or for that matter, those we knew. But sometimes we end up accepting requests of people we do not even know, just for the sake of a few likes and followers. And this is when we put ourselves into trouble. Accepting friend requests from strangers could be dangerous. It not only exposes your personal information but can also cause you loss of money.

In a recent case in Mangalore, a woman lost ₹ 16 lakhs after accepting a friend request from a man she did not know. After they both introduced to each other and started chatting, that man wished to send her a gift. Once the woman agreed, he asked her to transfer ₹ 16 lakhs for custom duty charges. By the time she realized that she got cheated, it was too late. The man had already disappeared. There are several cases where people fall prey to such fraudsters.

While you are accepting a request, you are also exposing sensitive information; your photos, date of birth, contact number, email address, school you went to or the place you work, etc. These little pieces of information are enough for a hacker, to not only hack and make your duplicate social media accounts but also access your personal information linked with other accounts. One can protect his/her identity from reaching it to the wrong hands by considering some safety measures. With the help of specific steps, you can easily protect your identity and can save from potential frauds.

1.Don’t accept friend request from someone you do not know. Never accept the friend request from stranger, even if you have a list of mutual friends. It is not always necessary that your mutual friends are in good contact with that person.

2.Never reveal your sensitive information. Revealing your confidential information on social media can put you at an extreme risk. Never include your financial details like your income, bank account number, credit and debit card details or PAN/Aadhaar number on any of the social media platform.

3.Keep your privacy settings at the highest. Even if you end up accepting a request from someone, you barely know, or you knew, make sure that your privacy settings are adjusted accordingly. You can control privacy fields like who can access your information, who can view your photos or what you post, who can share or comment on your pictures. Controlling privacy in such fields can prevent identity frauds to a greater extent.

4.Be aware of what you post or share. If you are working or you have recently landed up getting a job in a desired company, do not post your company details or designation. Also, if you have booked tickets to your dream destination for your holidays, do not reveal your hotel check-ins, airline ticket and passport details.

5.Do not post family photos. Never share pictures of your family, especially your children. Revealing information about your family relations or photographs of your children can compromise your family’s identity and safety up to a greater extent.

However, identity theft or scam prevention entirely is impossible. But also protecting your identity up to a  scope is in your hands. Cyberior’s Digital Identity Protection gives comprehensive protection to your identity so that you can lead a secured life.