How to Prevent Yourself from Getting Hacked on Social Media
It’s important to know what you can do to protect your Social Media accounts from spammers and hacking attacks.
1.) Strong and Unique Passwords
Strong Passwords. The first thing should be obvious, set strong, unique passwords. If you are worried about remembering your passwords, talk to our friend Mac at Miks Media about a password manager.
This also means add a password on your phone. Use a code or fingerprint. If you lose your phone, anyone can have access to all your accounts and personal info.
2.) 2 Factor Authentication
Switching on 2 Factor Authorization means an additional sign in code will be required. This will require a bit of extra work but it will also mean a hacker will have twice the trouble getting into your account.
3.) Don’t Befriend Strangers
Just say no to stranger friend requests. This can be very affective on Facebook, and LinkedIn. Where many people get caught up in the visuals of having a lot of friends, in reality you are giving them access to your private information.
Where you live, went to School, in some cases your email and phone number and most importantly, your friends list. Providing more people who could be fooled if someone was posing as you.
4.) Close Accounts You Aren’t Using
Close old Social Media accounts. They can have personal information listed. Like your birthday, business details or your email. Delete your information and close your account.
5.) Private Accounts
You can switch your profile to be visible only to friends. This is a good option for personal accounts but this is not viable for professional accounts.
If you are private, you will be unable to show up under hashtags or in the feeds of people who are not already following you.
6.) Wait to Check-in
When you go on vacation, or leave the country and check in, you are literally saying “ There is no one at home right now.” Instead wait until you are back to check in, or post photos of your trip.
Sharing your live location can tell people your habits.
7.) Check what Apps are connected to your Social Media
If you give apps your login, by an access token or by giving them your username and password, they gain complete access.
They can see your personal messages (even those sexy ones from your hubby), find information about your friends, and post spam or other harmful content on your profile. This puts your security, and that of your friends, at risk.
8.) Spam Comments
Spam Comments are so annoying. They will ask you to promote it on @ tagged account who will try to run a scam on you.
We would love to collab check your dm for our spammy message.
Follow our main account @ the one that hasn’t been reported yet.
9.) Review your Tags
You have won a Shien giftcard! With a tag to your account, it will then pop up in your friend’s feeds. The post will also appear on your tagged photos. You can choose who is allowed to tag you in post.
10.) Focus on Privacy
be careful about what you say online. The internet is forever. Your personal information is yours. This means that garage sale you set up in a Facebook Event in 2014 with your address on it still exists.
Watch out for Phishing Schemes
- If you receive a link in a direct message, don’t click it. Even if it is from someone you know and trust. Reread the language they used. It will say things like “Is this pic of you?” or ” Did you see who died?”
- Keep your personal information close, when you fill out the games or quizzes, like what was your first pet’s name? They can actually be mining bits of your data that they can then use as the basis of an attack. These are common questions that are used to recover your account.
- Text messages from scammers with pretend links to your social media accounts. My wife/ aunt/ daughter/ friend saw your company High Level YEG and wanted to learn more about your services.
Even More Scams
- fb.me – Resetting your password on Instagram or Facebook. This is hard to undo, because the request to reset the password or information is coming directly from you.
- fb.me – Resetting your password on Instagram or Facebook. This is hard to undo, because the request to reset the password or information is coming directly from you.
- fb.me – Resetting your password on Instagram or Facebook. This is hard to undo, because the request to reset the password or information is coming directly from you.
Even More Scams
- Everyone to comment Sucker wins a prize! You’ve won! Congratulations! Click here to get your coupon, for a free hack!
- Get rich quick schemes are huge right now. Beware all Cryptocurrency related accounts. They will send your screenshots of huge bank balances and claim to have made the money over a short period of time. They will even take a photo of the person they are pretending to be and put it as their background on their phone while taking the screenshot. (Who has themselves as a wallpaper?) The aim is to take your money and “invest it for you” Always use a trusted Financial Advisor when investing.
- Romantic spam, I am looking for someone to love me. I am very beautiful with a radiant personality. Just join this website, by clicking this link: or perhaps more subtle: A secret admirer has invited you to join our site.
Apps You Can Use to Protect Yourself from Hackers
Things that can help prevent fraud:
Google Authenticator: Generates 2-Step Verification codes on your phone. Providing stronger security for your Accounts.
Hootsuite: limit access to accounts and have them schedule through an App.
ZeroFox: cybersecurity app that can message you when there are threats against your account. Like imitation accounts, or scam links.
BrandFort: protect against spammy comments and links. Remove them automatically with Brandforts AI.
Stay Sceptical and Don’t Click ANY LINKS!
We hope this helped you to recognize what hackers are doing to try to steal your information, stay safe!
