Joy Adalia
Do you enjoy posting on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, about your new gadgets? Do you always “check in” at the business establishments or tourist spots to tell your friends where you are? Do you love to show off your new car and its awesome features? Do you often post about every single event you are attending or whatever it is you are planning to do?
If you said “yes” to the questions above, then you might have to evaluate just how much you sharing on social media sites and how these could affect you or your family.
It seems that kidnappers and thieves are checking out peoples’ profiles and timelines, in search of possible victims.
Yes, you probably disabled several features on your social media profile, including your mobile number and address, yet thugs could glean other information from your posts.
For example, they can view how your kids look like, where they are studying, which places you frequent together, where you are planning to go, where you are eating, where you are currently located, etc.
They can also see where you go (or went) to school, where you are working, who your friends are, what vehicle are you driving, who your partner is or the status of your relationship, etc.
In short, even if these people do not know you, they can keep track of what you are doing using social media! Isn’t that creepy?
There have been a number of reports of people attacked in their own homes after posting they are there alone, though most of those happened in the US.
What is alarming in the Philippines, is that there are already reports of people kidnapped because their whereabouts are shared on social media!
In a report on Balitanghali of GMA, Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) official Boy Evangelista narrated how he was active on Facebook in the past, especially because it was a great platform for him to find clients for his business as a car dealer.
One day, though, his son Venson was kidnapped and killed by crooks who also heartlessly burned the boy’s body. Evangelista believed the culprits were able to get information they used against him using his Facebook account.
He has deactivated his account since then.
PNP-AKG chief, Police Sr. Supt. Rene Aspera, affirmed Evangelista’s statement, saying it is easier for kidnappers and crooks to check how rich a person is, giving them an idea whether this particular person is worth stealing from.
Both Aspera and Evangelista offer advice to those who are active on social media to minimize their activities on these sites. Still, if they can’t help it, it would help to at least determine what information you should really be sharing on the web, information that hundreds or thousands of people can see.
