Here's how much you're giving away about yourself when you post on social media
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- You might be eager to post your latest vacation photo or find it easier to link your social media profiles together if you have them, but before you click, tag, or share, Action 13 found that you could be making yourself a target.
Trina Martin is an intelligence analyst with the FBI who works on the Houston Cyber Taskforce, and she's seen a lot.
Her first tip -- don't post any personal information like your address, phone number, job or even your full name.
While you're at it, make your profile private as an extra layer of security.
Also, verify your pictures aren't being posted somewhere else by doing a reverse Google search.
Martin admits if someone really wants to know something, they'll find a way, but don't help them connect the pieces of your life or your friend group.
Speaking of friends, don't accept requests from people you don't know.
"Actually vet them to see if they're really people that you know or someone else that you trust that can vouch for them," Martin said.
And while you might want to tag all of your friends or have them tag you when you take pictures together, it turns out, that can tip off criminals, too.
"As people tag you, friends, and family, they begin to learn who your circle is so they know this is someone's friend, and then they use that information to get closer to you as far as saying, 'Hey, I know this person, you're friends with that person right? I'm friends with that person,' and that's not necessarily the case," Martin said.
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Instead, Martin recommends you choose privacy settings that require you to review a tag or comment before it's approved. You should also check your settings after app updates to make sure they didn't get erased.
Otherwise, you'll need to go back and apply them.
A question that always comes up is whether children should be allowed on social media.
Martin told ABC13 that it's up to parents or guardians, but if a child is allowed to have an account, be sure it's closely monitored, enable parental controls, and have a computer in an area where everyone can see what's going on.
But you can even give too much away depending on what you post about your pets.
"Usually (when) we put pets, we say where we are and what we're doing, but you don't want to put anything out there that lets people recognize your home or where you're at in the day," Martin explained. "Especially if you have a certain routine with your pets, you don't want to say, 'Every day, I'm walking my dog at this park at this time."
It's the same concept if you're on vacation or go out to dinner. Wait until after the event is over to post about it, so you're not flagging cyber criminals when you aren't home.
And avoid connecting your social profiles to dating apps because once all of those things are connected, it just takes one criminal to compromise all your accounts.
Lastly, looking for love online? There's nothing wrong with that, but be mindful of how quickly someone tries to move with you.
"If they start to get personal with you in a short amount of time, and they're saying, 'Oh, I love you. I want to meet you,' and then it slowly leads into something like, 'Oh, I'm from the U.S., but I live abroad, can you give me money for this?' That's immediately a red flag," Martin said.
