This post has nothing to do with Austin real estate, but it is important to anyone who is active in online social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

I was listening to the radio today and heard the host of a show talking about the burglary of someone’s home.  It turned out that one of the people in the house posted on Facebook about going out for a long, romantic evening.  Someone on Facebook saw that, broke into the house while they were out and robbed these people blind.

The poster either did not set her privacy settings to limit who could watch what she was postings or she added someone she didn’t know well as a friend.  Folks, this is a real threat to your security.  You can make yourself or your home or other property a target depending on what you post and who can see it.

This is especially important for parents.  If your kids are on Facebook, monitor their privacy settings and watch their posts.  Insist that you be added as a friend as a condition for them to be active on Facebook.  You don’t need to lurk all the time and post to their walls, but you need to know what your kids are doing online.

To check or change your Privacy Settings, log in to Facebook and look for the Account tab at the upper right part of the page.  Click on Account and find Privacy Settings.  Click that, then Profile Information and make whatever changes you need to make.  Go back to Privacy Settings and click Contact Information.  Again, make any changes you feel are necessary.  Do the same for other Privacy Settings and you’re done.

There is another scam that has been making its way around Facebook.  Hackers are stealing members identities.  They post messages like this one:  “I’m in London and got mugged.  I’m not hurt, but they got my wallet.  Can someone please send me some money?”  Then the hackers will send a bunch of private messages out.  Some unsuspecting friend who doesn’t know where the real person is may just wire funds only never to get the money back.

How do hackers steal someone’s Facebook identity?  Probably through a phishing email.  This is a great reason not to have one password for multiple online accounts.

There are other Facebook threats as well.  If you see something that looks suspicious, take a careful look at it.