Over-Sharing Online Can Lead to Virtual or Real-Life Security Breach
Over-Sharing online could make you a target in real life.
March 25, 2010— -- You're getting ready for a vacation, or for a night out with friends. As part of your routine, you post an update on Facebook or send a tweet.
Keri McMullen didn't think anything of doing the same thing, updating her Facebook status with her plans to attend a concert. When she got back home, $10,000 worth of her possessions were gone.
"I posted that on my Facebook page, who the band was, where we were going. The band started at 8," she said.
The burglary was caught on security video that the woman had running in her home.
One of the suspects was one of McMullen's 500 Facebook friends, a man she hadn't seen in 20 years.
Police believe her status update tipped off the burglars.
"I will never again put that I'm going anywhere on Facebook," McMullen said. "You really don't know who your friends are."
Stories such as McMullen's inspired the Web site PleaseRobMe.com, which cautions against over-sharing your information on the Web.
"The more people know about us, especially the people we don't know and can't trust, the more at risk we are," Internet safety expert Parry Aftab said. "Think before you click, think before you post, think before you share too much information."
