More and more quizzes, games and surveys are popping up on social media. They may seem harmless, but taking these quizzes might mean you are giving away more about yourself than you originally thought.

These quizzes ask seemingly innocent questions, such as “What was your first job?”, “What is your favourite pet’s name?” or “What was the model of your first car?”

For many people the answer to these questions will be the same as the answers to the “secret questions” that are used to access your email account, reset your password or download information from your device.

A nugget of your information in isolation may not seem like a big deal, but a scammer can combine that with other data on the internet and cause much a greater threat!

How do I stay safe?

Follow these simple tips to avoid social media scams:

• Be skeptical: Before you take a quiz, figure out who created it. Is it a brand you trust?
• Adjust privacy settings: Review your social media account’s privacy settings and be strict about what information you share.
• Remove personal details from your profile: Don’t share information like your date of birth, phone number or home address on social media accounts.
• Don’t give answers to common security questions: Be cautious if the questions ask for things like your mother’s maiden name, the street you grew up on, or the name of your high school.
• Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know.

Remember everything you post on social media is public, no matter how secure your settings are.

More information

Read more on socialising online and online scams – including steps you can take if you think you’ve been scammed and how you can protect yourself from these threats online.

Find out where to get help if you believe you have become a victim of a scam.