After careful planning and with great enthusiasm, the departure date of a happy couple’s vacation finally arrived. When they returned from that vacation after two relaxing weeks, their joy quickly crumbled into angst and despair when they discovered that someone stole their identities while they were away.
The trouble started when the couple celebrated their impending vacation departure on social media. Though friends cheered their good fortune and wished them well, an unfriendly, unscrupulous observer saw a lucrative opportunity to harness the value of the information, and waited for the right moment to act.
As soon as the couple departed for their amazing adventure, a thief started an adventure of her own and placed a hold order on the couple’s mail online. The scoundrel named a fictitious niece of one of the owners as an authorized individual to pick up the mail and posed as that individual when she visited the Post Office.
While the couple enjoyed a care-free journey, the thief was busy stealing their identities and applied for credit in their names. When the couple returned home, they discovered the thief’s actions and immediately called authorities to report the crime. To this date, the thief’s identity hasn’t been discovered and the couple remains vulnerable to further identity theft issues.
Though individuals may be identified as friends in your network, not everyone may be a true friend. Someone you’ve never met might be in your network of friends, and that individual could see your vacation revelation as a chance to take advantage of you. Even if you’ve vetted the friends in your friends list, your friends may share your post on their timelines, thereby allowing their friends to see the post. Their friends may not be as carefully vetted as yours, and you could quickly find your personal information in the hands of strangers.
Never post your plans to go on vacation or other extended trips away from home on social media. It could give thieves the precise information they need to take advantage of you, and transform your vacation dreams into an unending nightmare.