Oversharing on Social Media

Written on the 4 May 2023 by Kerri Vandenberg

We live in an age of oversharing on social media.

Everything from our new cars to our holidays to our home purchases makes it onto our Twitter feeds or our Instagram grids – but just how safe is it?

By documenting our every move, our every purchase, with public photo evidence, are we making ourselves more vulnerable to theft?

A recent warning showed that something as simple as showing the key to your new home on social media is a definite no-no – it is possible for people to replicate keys using these pictures.

According to research, these are the four social media posts that are more likely to leave you vulnerable to theft and burglary:

Geo-tagging and Check-ins

Real-time notifications as to where a person is - are the perfect opportunity for a burglar to pounce. This key information is often shared in stories, which tell the burglar that the tag happened within 24 hours.  

Pinpointing an exact address, whether it’s a restaurant or sports ground, the location advertises how far away from home a person is, and how long somebody has to break into the empty home.

Holiday Posts

On Instagram alone, there are 16.3 million #airport uploads and a huge 152 million #holiday hashtags. Plus, 2.8 million posts relating to passports and 128k boarding pass pictures.

An ex-criminal says: ‘We used to keep tabs on when our followers were away from home. We could find out where they were going and how long for, to plan the best way of making a move.

Insta-bragging

So far on Instagram, 86.7k people have used #bragging to call out those flaunting an expensive lifestyle or product.

Being boastful on Instagram and TikTok advertises the value of certain goods, giving burglars the exact

New Homes

New home posts on TikTok have over 506.4 million views so far, each of which shows either an address street sign, the layout of the property, or even pictures of keys, which are being replicated for easy access without breaking in.  

An ex-burglar comments: ‘It’s easy to make a copy of a key from a picture, in some instances, you can literally take it to a locksmith and they’ll have one made for you pretty quickly.’

How to Protect Yourself on Social Media

Practicing the following five essential rules when active on social media can assist in limiting the chances of theft:

1.     Set to private: Change any social media accounts to private and target posts specifically to your friends. This way only people you trust can see your content, rather than advertising to potential thieves you don’t know.

2.     Decline requests: Once your profile is private, do not accept any friend requests from people you don’t know or trust. If you don’t have close contact with someone that you know, don’t accept their requests as they could have your address, phone number, or information to break into your home.

3.     Turn off GPS tracking: Turn off the GPS tracking systems for each social media app when you leave the house so you can’t be tempted to tag yourself into locations. That way burglars won’t see if you’re on holiday or away from home.

4.     Post in the future: When posting an image of yourself travelling or away, do it whilst you’re at home and back from the journey. Security deterrents at the house will tell the thief that you are on the property, so they know to not risk trying whilst people are in.

5.     Close-ups: When posting an image about a new product or home, try a close up or just capture a small part of it-to not give a clear indication of your belongings or your property layout. Keep your content cryptic to not encourage a burglar to try.