In our age of development of information technologies, new opportunities appear not only for work and communication, but also for committing crimes. Therefore, communicating with strangers on social networks, forums or other virtual sites, try to follow the 10 basic rules that can protect you from real life.
10. Meet new friends from the virtual world only in crowded places
It is likely that you have been communicating in the virtual space for quite some time. From the photo you know the appearance of a new friend (which may belong to another person), from his stories you know the type of his occupation (this information can also be easily “embellished”), so it seems to you that your “friend” is a verified person? It is quite possible that you are not communicating with the one whom the imagination has drawn for you, and besides, he may pursue completely noble goals towards you. And disappointing statistics show that so many people have already become victims of scammers, perverts, pedophiles, rubbed into trust by users of social networks.
Therefore, in order to reduce risks, choose places of large crowds for the first date. Thanks to this, not only you, but also your friend, who may very well feel similar concerns, will feel much calmer.
9. Do not report your location
Information about your location, falling into the vast expanses of virtual space, becomes a strong trump card in the hands of detractors. On the one hand, knowing your usual route, an attacker can track you and your loved ones, and the consequences can be most sad. On the other hand, thanks to the information received, scammers will know in what period of time you are not at home, because of which you have an increased risk of becoming a victim of apartment theft.
8. Do not write any information about children
Neither the threat of being robbed, nor the harassment of sexual Internet perverts are as frightening as the possibility of doing any harm to a child by a stranger. Often the parents of those children who were abused, shortly before this, posted photos of their children and other information about them in the public domain. Therefore, do not tempt fate by risking the most precious.
7. Do not provide information about your daily schedule.
This information can also help criminals determine your whereabouts in order to plan a robbery and other illegal actions against you. Remember, in our time, any, even the most insignificant, information about your privacy plays into the hands of scammers who parasitize on the credulity of many users of the global web.
6. Do not publish your personal data.
Think about why you need to share personal information with strangers if one of the benefits of virtual communication is the ability to remain anonymous? This is what distinguishes Internet friends from real ones. If your interlocutor insists that you tell something about yourself that is not indicated in your profile, then this is a good reason to suspect him that they are far from being driven by noble goals.
5. Do not report expensive purchases that you make
It is very difficult to suppress the primitive desire to show off something to friends and acquaintances, but it is even more difficult to cope with envy, which often occurs in people in response to someone else's success. Photos of expensive cars, luxurious interiors or simply valuable purchases are a very “fat" bait for car thieves, apartment thieves and scammers who want to profit at your expense.
In addition, even your trusted acquaintances can be annoyed by the well-being that you indiscreetly stick out. At the right time, they may not be able to resist “putting you a pig” in retaliation.
4. Do not disseminate information about other people.
Probably your friends will not be delighted to find out that they became victims of scammers because of your unbridled talkativeness. Why does a person who has shared personal information with someone he trusted should suffer from the fact that this “someone” cannot “keep his mouth shut” and does not think about the consequences of his actions.
3. Do not insult or slander your friends, relatives, acquaintances, colleagues and so on
Publicly insulting a person or disseminating false information about him that discredits him is a criminal offense. You may not know this, but if the victim wants to punish you for defamation, you will have to answer for your words before the law. As a result, you will be awarded a fine (which, depending on the severity of the damage caused to the plaintiff, can be very impressive) or a real custody sentence.
In our country, such cases are not very common, so many of us are very frivolous about our remarks on the network. However, precedents have already taken place in world judicial practice. Therefore, monitor the content of your statements in order to avoid negative consequences.
2. Do not report when you are away from home
If the attackers will know for certain when you are not at home, then it will not cost them anything to get into your house and “clean” it. It is also possible that this information will be sent to hooligans who can harm your home.
1. Do not write anything that could harm your reputation
You can “build” your reputation all your life, and it is worthless to defame yourself. If you have photos in which you or your loved ones appear in an unsightly form, then you do not need, even for fun, to upload them to the network. Of course, you can restrict access to these pictures so that they are visible only to friends. However, who can guarantee you that tomorrow you will not quarrel with one of them and he, wishing to take revenge on you, will not share shameful photographs with the whole world or will not begin to blackmail you?