I often come across similar articles such as, “The Rich Kids of Instagram” or “The Snap Chat Elite” and when I’m skimming over the content a number of thoughts run through my head, some of which I won’t share with you. But there is always one particular recurring theme, where is the common sense? And to be clear I say this to myself not out of envy or PR and image concerns but for security purposes.
By sharing your latest jewellery or automotive purchase on social media you’re also inadvertently advertising the fact you are a potentially lucrative target for an opportune criminal.
Take the below Instagram uploads taken from a prolific Insta-poster. This individual proudly shared his new Rolex purchase with his 24,000 followers, within the same 24 hours he had posted a bar receipt which was uploaded remotely from the location and included the time and address of the bar where he had earlier tagged himself in at.
The only reconnaissance an opportune criminal would need to do here would be to follow this individual on Instagram, and from that they would live access to where the mark is located, what jewellery they have on and what sports car they are driving.
It would hardly take the Pink Panthers to pull off this heist, would it?
Sticking with a similar theme we have recently seen a number of high profile robberies in Paris, with the criminals still at large having stolen millions of euro’s in cash and valuables, as well as assaulting the targets. The victims were avid social media users often uploading informative images and using geo location check in. This leaves the victims extremely vulnerable and allows criminals to build up a target profile giving them insight of movement trends and behavioural patterns.
If Social media is not managed the right way it can pose a risk to both your online reputation and personal safety.
