Your social media represents a significant part of the Digital You. This is why, at ScoresMatter, we are determined to help you improve your social media accounts.
A good social media account can mean the difference between securing a job or getting accepted into a University. With the right direction, social media can drastically improve the Digital You.
Now imagine if you didn’t have control over the content you post on your social media accounts. Someone could post anything they want, in your name, without consulting you or keeping your interests in mind. Unfortunately, this scenario is quite real and it can happen without warning.
As the popularity of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram continue to grow, so has the frequency in hacks on user accounts. It is a growing trend, and if you don’t know the signs of a hack, you could very well be the next victim.
Why social media?
The main draw of social media is to stay connected with friends, family, brands, and other influencers. Many individuals don’t consider it a treasure trove of information for hackers. However, hackers on these sites actually rely on you trusting your connections. They exploit your false sense of security and may send malicious links through a hacked friend or family member knowing that you are more likely to click through.
Once they have your information, they will use your interests, habits, purchase history and connections to their advantage. For example, a hacker can send links to all your connections in an attempt to hack them as-well. This is an alarming scenario that you can avoid by knowing the warning signs in advance.
Signs that your account was compromised.
Depending on a hacker’s goals, your account(s) could experience a wide variety of changes. The faster you recognize these changes, the faster you can begin recovering your account.
Here a few things to look out for according to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram:
1. Changes to your email or password.
2. Changes to your personal information like birthday, etc.
3. Your account has friend requests that you never made.
4. Your account has new posts (that you don’t recognize).
5. There are personal messages that you never wrote.
6. Changes in followers, friends, connections.
7. Your account shows logins from other devices or locations.
Another thing to remember is that, in addition to new posts, you may also notice that the hacker has deleted many of your old posts.
In the event you believe you are a victim of a hack, most sites recommend resetting your password and or revoking access to any third party apps that seems suspicious. If both of these approaches don’t work, you may need to try other methods to secure your account:
How to prevent hackers from getting access to your accounts.
While it is important to stay aware of any signs pointing to hackings of your accounts, the best solution is to prevent getting hacked in the first place. Fortunately, we have covered plenty of ways you can avoid your personal information from ending up in the wrong hands.
With major company breaches occurring at an alarming rate, your information is at a higher risk than ever of being compromised. If your personal information does end up as collateral in a breach, then it may land in market places on the Dark Web.
With ScoresMatter, you can scan the Dark Web and see if criminals are trading or selling your personal details. You can also learn what you can do if we do find your information for sale on the Dark Web. It is the best way to ensure you are protecting the Digital You.
Tap into the Digital You and ScoresMatter.