James McDonald

Not long ago, my sister-in-law fell victim to a social media scam. The scammer had cleverly impersonated her online and messaged her friends, relatives, and colleagues, even addressing them by their nicknames. This fraudster claimed he was short on cash to buy a few more tiles—a request that seemed plausible since my brother and his wife were indeed renovating their house at that time. That small, accurate detail made the story even more believable. And before anyone caught on, several people had already sent money, genuinely thinking they were helping out. This experience was a harsh reminder of how social media, while wonderful for keeping us connected, can also serve as a goldmine for scammers. Have you ever been in a similar situation or wondered how scammers can know so much about someone? The uncomfortable truth is, you may have handed the scammers the information they need in a silver platter. Here are the most common social media mistakes that could make you an easy target. You Participate in Viral Trends and Quizzes Have you ever tried using AI-powered apps to transform your photos? People are uploading high-quality selfies for AI to turn them into digital artwork, improved versions of themselves, or even mythological creatures—because who doesn’t want to know what they’d look like if they were ancient Greek goddesses? This trend seems fun and harmless until you realize you’ve handed over your face to a faceless tech company. According to cybersecurity expert Andrew Couts, a senior editor for security at Wired who covers privacy policies, national security, and surveillance, it’s almost impossible to know what happens to your photos once they’ve been uploaded. Couts emphasized that without a full audit of the company’s back-end systems, there’s simply no way to tell how safe (or unsafe) your photos really are. Some companies claim to delete your face data within 24 hours and boast about their top-notch privacy and security practices—but let’s be honest, most people couldn’t care less about digging into which companies are actually playing by the rules.