A lot of people are going to read that and say that could never happen to their children and the grandparents.
Yet, it is true. Grandparents who are on social media like Facebook do love to post pictures of their grandchildren. It’s what grandparents do. They are proud of their grandkids and want the world to know it.
But, who is looking at those pictures other than close friends and family? Facebook in particular gives friends of friends permission to see any post where the first generation of friends makes a post.
Let’s put that another way.
Grandma posts pictures of grandchildren. It’s a birthday party. Grandma only allows friends to post on her page. She links to her friend Margaret. Margaret sees the post and makes a comment.
Margaret doesn’t have the same security protocols.
Margaret’s friends can see the post as well. Margaret, through no fault of her own, has approved a predator on her friends list. It could be a friend approved to earn benefits in a Facebook game. But now, this predator has information about Grandma’s grandchildren, including everything she posted about the children.
- Names
- Ages
- Addresses
- Parents
That’s enough for someone who steals identity to make fake accounts in the grandchild’s name. It not just fake social media accounts. With a few keystrokes, the thief can set up fraudulent online shopping accounts and expand from there into more financial fraud.
Grandma has set up her grandchildren for a lifetime of identity fraud issues. She never meant to do this, but it still happened.
Read more at https://www.brainlink.com/life_of_a_child/