It's the online networking phenomenon that has got millions of people poking, sending sticky notes and writing on 'fun walls'.
Facebook allows users to build their own little online communities of friends, colleagues and relatives and has attracted over 30 million users worldwide. But it could also be a feasting ground for identity fraudsters.
Users can enter details such as their address, phone number, date of birth, hometown, political views, religious views, pet's name, favourite football team, favourite bands and their marital status, in addition to uploading pictures of themselves.
It may seem safe enough but all of this information could be a goldmine for the professional ID thief. The site is already being used by employers to fire potential employees and was recently used by Oxford Dons to check whether students behaved in their post-exam celebrations.
James Jones of credit reference agency Experian said: 'I actually joined Facebook myself recently and realised that I'd put far too much information on there and had to go and take it all off again.'
'It's great fun, but you do have to be careful with the level of information you put on there. You're meant to be protecting this type of information, not putting it in the public domain.'
This story made me want to delete my facebook account I have. It scares me that putting pictures up of yourself and friends could ruin your future for a job you want. I deleted most of my pictures that weren't appropriate for the website, but it could be too late because someone can just as easily copy the picture in there computer and black mail it for you if they wanted to.
Author: Michael Clarke, This is Money
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-loans/idfraud/article.html?in_article_id=422517&in_page_id=&ito=1565
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