Bored on social media and thinking about answering a ‘fun’ personality quiz or survey that’s just popped up on your feed?
It may seem harmless, but these posts are an easy way for scammers to access your data.
The danger of social media quizzes
Quizzes or surveys can look appealing and seem like a bit of fun – but answering them can give hackers access to your personal details and leave you vulnerable to fraud or identity theft.
Red flag questions may include:
- ‘What TV character would you be?’
- ‘Where did you grow up?’
- 'What was your first grade teacher’s name?’
- ‘What’s your favourite colour?’
- ‘What street did you grow up on?’
- ‘What’s your favourite child’s name?’
- ‘What’s your favourite sports team?’
- ‘What’s your favourite food?’
- ‘What was your first car?’
- ‘What was your mum’s name before she got married?’
- ‘What was your first job?’
- ‘What’s your favourite band?’
If you see posts popping up in your feed with any of these types of questions, steer clear.
Say no to surveys
Other types of posts that can try to collect your details include surveys that offer you a ‘prize’ or cash to complete.
These are often under the guise or impersonate a legitimate organisation and ask you to share your phone number, address or bank details to ‘deposit the prize’.
Don’t be caught out by posts you come across that ask for these details.
How do scammers use your info?
A lot of the questions above are often clues to your password combinations, or similar to questions your bank or lender might ask you when it comes to verifying yourself – perhaps when you need to change your password or log into your account without one.
So if you’re giving those answers to scammers via a quiz or survey, you could be helping hackers build a profile of your personal information.
This could potentially give a hacker access to your bank account or be used to open accounts you’re not aware of or to buy things in your name.
If you’re worried that you’ve given this information away, consider changing your password to something new across all your accounts and know the steps you can take to protect yourself from ID fraud.
5 ways to stay safe using social media
- Avoid quizzes that request personal details, even if it seems absolutely harmless
- If the quiz or post appears to be from a legitimate source, verify it on the company’s website
- If you ever do answer a quiz, give fake information
- Keep a close eye on your statements and bank accounts and report unauthorised activity
- Report any scams to your bank and ScamWatch.