The Social Media Marketer

Social Media and the Scam Artist

Tweet

 

I got an odd tweet the other day from an acquaintance. 

"Hey, I'm in London and I'm stuck. I got mugged." 

Now, I don't know why I even responded. After all, I'm a writer and I really don' t know people who can afford to go out for pizza more than once a week, let alone go on a trip to London.  So of course, I sent the obligatory "OMG" back, and then this person popped up on my Yahoo Instant Messenger to tell me how she got mugged and she would never be able to pay her hotel and they were going to turn her out on the street. 

Could I spare, say, $300? And wire it not to London, but to Wales, which is nearly 200 miles away? 

So I looked this person up on Facebook. Her status made it apparent that she wasn't out of the country, let alone having been mugged. Yes, someone was impersonating her to try to steal money from me and probably others.  Now, we all know not to trust everything we read online, but this really brought it all home.  And with the increasing popularity of social media sites, this kind of thing is going to happen more and more -- and if you fall prey to every scam that comes through, eventually it could cast doubts on your own Internet marketing efforts, especially if you become the victim of someone who has stolen your name to try the "mugging scam." 

So how can you protect yourself? 

1. Keep your personal information personal. It's great to use Twitter to market your website or blog. It's not so good when you're giving out your personal details.

2. Watch what you put on Facebook. It's great to create a fan page that will attract others to visit your website. It's not so great when you're sharing personal information and viewpoints that can counteract your product -- or when you're giving out details a spammer can use to steal your identity.

3. Change your social media site passwords frequently. Imagine the damage that can be done to your reputation if someone hacks into your Twitter account and starts posting links to their own adult site under your name! 

Social media websites have been an amazing way for many of us to connect with friends and with customers.  However, with the joy of immediacy of friendships and contacts that come through on those sites, there are people who can ruin your very best marketing efforts in a very short time.