Scams that prey on emotions

The Internet, and particularly blogs and social networking sites, can provide wonderful outlets for emotional sharing, but when you find yourself experiencing extremes of joy or grief, consider carefully what you share online. Just as there are offline criminals who read birth, graduation, wedding, and obituary announcements in newspapers to find vulnerable people to target, there are online criminals watching as you post information about your feelings and significant life events.

The joy of a wedding or the arrival of a new baby may inspire individuals to share information on wedding sites and baby registries that they would otherwise keep private. People may post pictures, full names, locations, dates, and a great deal more. This kind of sharing may help a criminal to identify homes to rob or perform ID theft or financial scams.

Guidelines for sharing grief and joy

Four simple guidelines for sharing strong emotions, from grief to joy, make you much safer: Always:

• Learn whether the Web site allows you to make some (or all) information private.

• Review the information fields and a few sample pages to see what material is typically displayed. Look for risks that others may have inadvertently exposed themselves to.

• Make a conscious choice about whether you want the site to have restricted (only those whom you allow) or public access, and then decide what information you want to provide.

• Let others know your safety boundaries so they can share with you in a way that respects your wishes, and take the time to learn other’s restrictions so that you are respectful of their safety and privacy.

In grieving, this family exposed a great deal of information – including full family details, location and time of service, how to contact the family, and the family genealogy.