AARP: 4 safety tips for social media

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - People of all ages are using social media. Indeed, Facebook’s average users are older than ever, and social media became even more popular during the pandemic. But social media poses dangers that can expose users to fraud and scams. We have four safety tips.

1. Check your privacy settings.

Make sure your private information stays private. If you haven’t checked your privacy settings recently, do it now. Lock down all profile information that could compromise your safety. Set your privacy at the highest settings.

2. Be careful about sharing.

Posting a celebratory post about your favorite football team’s latest win is pretty safe. But make sure only people you know in real life can see information like birthdays, family names, pet names, addresses, or phone numbers.

3. Don’t accept friend requests or messages from strangers.

Social media sites are full of scammers who claim to want to be your “friend,” or say “I love your posts.” They are usually romance scammers, or otherwise trying to get you to give up personal information. Ignore any responses or messages from anyone you don’t know.

4. Use smart cybersecurity tools.

Most social media sites offer two-factor authentication now, which means you must provide two pieces of information to sign-in to your account. And consider using a password manager to create “smart” passwords and manage them for you.

For more information to protect yourself and your family from fraud, visit AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatch. It’s a free service for people of all ages from AARP.

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