Some people are taking oversharing to a new level by tweeting images of their debit cards—numbers and all. Really.
A Twitter account—@NeedADebitCard—spotlights the issue by retweeting posts from users who share photos of their cards, according to this post from the Los Angeles Times.
Here are a few examples, all of which included photos of the actual card:
• My debit card is too legit to quit!
• My debit card….it’s cute!
• Yaaay my credit card came in!
The Hello Kitty credit cards really are adorable. But it’s not a good idea to show everyone online. @NeedADebitCard offers good advice in its bio line, which reads “Please quit posting pictures of your debit cards, people.”
“Something so blatantly obvious as posting your credit or debit card number just speaks to the lack of awareness of what consumers think criminals can do with a set of numbers,” Brian McGinley, senior vice president of data risk management at Identity Theft 911, told Security Watch.
Some people may think it’s not a big deal since posters didn’t always show the entire card number or the security code. But it’s easy for enterprising identity thieves to engineer a phishing scam or search elsewhere on the Internet for missing bits of information.
“Social media and online services are making it easier for thieves to obtain identifying information about us—like our birth dates, addresses, mother’s maiden name, and more,” McGinley said. “In today’s environment of quick and easy data aggregation, identity theft can start with something as simple as a debit card number.”
Check out our social media tips to protect yourself from identity thieves.
Leave a Reply
