With the prevalence of social media usage, identity thieves and hackers can use what you post to steal your personal information, posing a risk to your privacy and online reputation.

1. Review the default privacy settings of the social media platforms you use and customize them to control who can see what.
2. Use a unique and strong password for each of your social media accounts. Check out these strong password practices to protect your online accounts.
3. Set up security questions or enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure your accounts.
4. Think twice before accepting requests to connect online. If you don’t know the person, don’t accept their request as it could be a fake account.
5. Look out for suspicious content on social media. If a friend or connection posts something that seems suspicious, their social media account may have been hacked.
6. Don’t click on links or download attachments from unknown sources, as they could be malicious or lead to a spoofed website to steal your information.
7. Be careful what you share online. Don’t reveal sensitive personal information (such as your birthday, address, phone number, email, mother’s maiden name or social insurance number).
8. Avoid joining online groups when you don’t know all of the members.
9. Avoid posting when you travel. This lets potential criminals know that your home is vacant.