BBB Tip of the Week: Watch out for those social media quizzes while staying at home
So many of us are now going to school and working while having to be at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are turning to social media for a fun distraction. Taking a Facebook quiz may seem like a harmless way to pass the time while quarantined, but it could also give scammers your personal information.
Better Business Bureau has seen an increase nationwide in the reported cases, via our Scamtracker program, of these types of scams. It is always important to safeguard your personal information and money, but it is especially critical at this time of heightened stress in the world.
How the scam works
You see a fun quiz on Facebook or another social media platform. What’s the harm, you figure? You answer a few questions and prove how well you know a friend. Or you take a short personality test to match with a character from your favorite TV show.
These quizzes ask seemingly silly or meaningless questions, but scammers can use that information for nefarious purposes. For example, some quizzes collect personal information by asking questions like: “What is your mother‘s maiden name?” or “What is the name of the street you grew up on?” These are common security questions for banking and credit card accounts. Sharing this information can lead to your accounts being hacked and your personal and financial information being stolen.
Not all social media quizzes are data-collection scams, but BBB cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Social media data and quiz answers can be used to steal your identity or enable a scammer to impersonate you to your friends and family.
Tips to avoid scam
Be skeptical. Before you take a quiz, figure out who created it. Is it a brand you trust? Just because something appears to be fun and innocent doesn’t mean there isn’t an inherent risk.
Adjust privacy settings. Review your social media account’s privacy settings and be strict about what information you share, and be mindful of who you are sharing it with.
Remove personal details from your profile. Don’t share information like your phone number or home address on social media accounts.
Don’t give answers to common security questions. Be cautious if the questions in a quiz ask for things like your mother’s maiden name, street you grew up on or the name of your high school.
Monitor friend requests. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know. Be wary of a second friend request from someone you are already connected with; the second profile may be an imposter trying to access your data and your Friends list.
For more information
For consumer and business tips on COVID-19, visit the Better Business Bureau Northwest and Pacific webpage at: https://bbb-businesses.org/covid-19/
If you’ve spotted a scam (whether or not you’ve lost money), report it to