When social media leads to personality theft
9April 13, 2007 by Colin
I think everyone is aware of the financial implications of identity theft – and we likely have all suffered from it. But are the consequences greater when your identity is mimicked on sites like LinkedIn, MySpace or Facebook? The digital trail left by an identity thief can leave a lasting – and possibly damaging - history of misleading posts, poorly considered group memberships and intellectually inconsistent political positions.
The most elementary type of personality theft is the fake celebrity MySpace page – is that really Jessica Simpson who’s agreed to be my friend?
But, as we begin to consider a world where our digital breadcrumbs will help shape how people think of us – now and in the future – the prospect of personality theft becomes more threatening.
Social networking sites have advanced too far as useful tools to describe their users according to simple stereotypes: drunken frat boys; Jersey girls; desperate job seekers; young professionals; or techies.
Today, you’re as likely to find your grandma or your boss on a social networking site. That means your boss or your grandma could be browsing through your online profile, message board postings, and group messages.
If you wrote them, that is. What if someone assumes your online identity, lifting a photograph, getting enough personal details right to fool some of your friends, and then starts undermining your personality?
That’s what seems to have happened to Samer Elatrash, who describes in this week’s Montreal Mirror how his identity was appropriated in a fake Facebook profile.
For Elatrash, though, there doesn’t seem to have been a financial impact. Instead, the Fake Elatrash simply muddied his online personality profile. He/she was joining groups with inappropriate political affiliations and making outrageous comments in others.
The impact of this type of identity theft, though, can be a long-lasting as when your bank details are stolen.
For a generation that lives its life online, your online record is your portable biography. If the information becomes corrupted, it not only casts doubt on the social network but on your real-life personality.
Is the key a system of third-party identity verification programs? More stringent verification procedures by social networking sites? Or is it up to people participating in networks to question new members or those seeking to “connect?”
I can see it now: in among the forms you’re handed on your first day as a freshman at university, there will be a list of personal question and answers that will be shared with your friends, so that later in life you will be able to verify their identity online.
“Colin McKay wants to connect”
“What was the name of your father’s first pet?”
[tags] Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, identity theft, personality theft [/tags]
[...] UPDATE (04.13.07): Another disturbing dimension to online social networks is identity theft. It happened to Samer Elatrash, who writes about it in yesterday’s Montreal Mirror. (Thanks go to Colin Mackay of Canuckflack and Judy Gombita for pointing this one out.) [...]
[...] Now, is it too much of a stretch to imagine digital identity thieves and other fraudsters working hard, even as we speak, using the awesome power of modern search engines to put together these various online clues to piece the puzzle that is the digital you? I think not! I believe that this is already happening on a wider scale than any of us would like to believe. We’ve made it easier for anyone to discover who we are and increased their chances to get acquainted with us, no matter where in the world they are. Especially with social networking sites and online dating sites, shady characters could easily work their way into our trust gradually, starting off as a “friend of a friend of a friend” or a potential love interest. From the stories I’ve heard, this seems to be taking place a lot more than I would have considered to be the case. [...]
[...] I’ve already posted about the dangers of mistaken or outright stolen identity online. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that social media is evil. [...]
[...] Now, is it too much of a stretch to imagine digital identity thieves and other fraudsters working hard, even as we speak, using the awesome power of modern search engines to put together these various online clues to piece the puzzle that is the digital you? I think not! I believe that this is already happening on a wider scale than any of us would like to believe. We’ve made it easier for anyone to discover who we are and increased their chances to get acquainted with us, no matter where in the world they are. Especially with social networking sites and online dating sites, shady characters could easily work their way into our trust gradually, starting off as a “friend of a friend of a friend” or a potential love interest. From the stories I’ve heard, this seems to be taking place a lot more than I would have considered to be the case. [...]
[...] I’ve already posted about the dangers of mistaken or outright stolen identity online. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that social media is evil. [...]
[...] LINK! [...]
The concept of online identity theft is new enough that nobody has come up with a great solution to the problem.
The one thing I recomend is using strong passwords, and updating your passwords frequently.
This can be a pain, but there are some ways to make it less painful. Microsoft has a great device that reads your finger print and enters your password for you so that you don’t have to remember or type your new strong passwords.
For strong passwords, I thing they should be at least 10 characters long, have UPPER CASE, lower case, at least 1 number, and at least 1 symbol such as $ or %. Better still, if you are using the fingerprint reader, make your password an entire phrase such as Thi$ !s My $trong P@$$word. The likely hood of anyone guessing such a password or using brute force attacks to figure out your password is very slim.
Also, when creating profiles, I recommend always writing a disclaimer that this is your only such profile immediately upon creating your profile. Enter the current date as part of the disclaimer. This way, unless the person who is copying your profile does it the same day, they won’t be able to copy your disclamer because the date they joined will not match yours.
I’d love to discuss this issue further. Please feel free to email me with your ideas.
Thanks,
Steve Warshaw – Executive Contributor
http://www.topinternetguides.com
steve@topinternetguides.com
Identy theft is one of the most insidious crimes in the country today, and yet it doesn’t receive the mass press that other crimes do. Why? Simply because it is not that sensational. But it probably hurts more victims on a daily basis then all of the high news impact crimes combined.
I was a victim of identy theft recently with a credit card, but fortunately the credit card issuer (my credit union) had a policy of checking with me on suspicious purchases. My theft occured, as best I can figure out, at a high upscale restaurant.
Fortunately my SSAN has not been stolen as that would have far more serious impact. I am now looking into one of the identiy theft protection services.
I am a mature, careful adult. I guard against theft to the best of my ability, but I add this post to underscore the fact this CAN happen to anyone.
[...] When social media leads to personality theft [...]