{"id":6512,"date":"2016-12-20T10:24:17","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T10:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatmate.com\/blog\/?p=6512"},"modified":"2026-07-04T00:14:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T00:14:41","slug":"protecting-yourself-facebook-identy-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatmate.com\/blog\/protecting-yourself-facebook-identy-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook, flatmate hunting and the identity-theft trap"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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We all love Facebook and everything it brings to our lives \u2014 but we can be dangerously na\u00efve about the way we use it.<\/p>

Facebook is fab. The chance it gives us to connect, promote, sell, exchange and share is priceless, and it’s why the platform has billions of active users worldwide. But where there is good, there is always evil.<\/p>

And it isn’t limited to Facebook. Social media in general has become a hunting ground for fraudsters looking for any opportunity to scam you or steal your identity \u2014 and wherever flatmate.com members live, the numbers are sobering. In Australia<\/strong>, the Australian Institute of Criminology found that 1 in 5 people had their personal information misused in a single year<\/a>. In the UK<\/strong>, identity fraud is now the single most common type of fraud, with Cifas recording around 242,000 identity-fraud cases in 2025 \u2014 more than half of all fraud logged to the National Fraud Database<\/a>. In Ireland<\/strong>, Banking & Payments Federation research found 1 in 5 regular online shoppers lost money to scams in a year<\/a>, as fraudulent payments climbed to \u20ac160 million. And in India<\/strong>, cybercrime complaints jumped 42% in 2024 to more than 2.2 million<\/a>, with identity theft among the fastest-growing categories. The trouble is that most people don’t realise there’s a problem until a bill turns up in their name for something they never bought, or their credit rating takes a hit.<\/p>

As identity crime expert Dr Clare Sullivan put it:<\/p>

“People put everything out there on social media. All you need [to steal someone’s identity] is their full name, their date of birth, sometimes their place of birth and an account number. With that information all over the internet, it’s very easy to piece together.”<\/p><\/blockquote>

The trouble with hunting for a flatmate in public Facebook groups<\/h4>

There’s a trend of people using public Facebook community groups to find flatmates and post accommodation ads. Unlike the flatmate.com<\/a> platform \u2014 where your personal information stays secure and protected \u2014 anything shared in these public groups is on display for everyone to see. And some of what gets posted is genuinely concerning.<\/p>

The other problem is that anyone can post in these groups, so they’re constantly bombarded with spam and offensive content. Administrators can block a person, but blocking doesn’t actually stop the spamming \u2014 it just hides the content from other members. By then the damage is usually done, with plenty of people already exposed to malicious links or intrusive posts.<\/p>

From your Facebook profile alone, a fraudster can learn your name, date of birth, location, employer, friends and contact details \u2014 and, on a deeper level, your interests and hobbies. With that much information, they can build a convincing email or impersonation scam tailored specifically to you. And you’re far more likely to respond to a message you believe is coming from a group you belong to or a person you know.<\/p>

It’s surprising how liberal people are with their personal information when the threat of scams and identity fraud is so widespread.<\/p>

What can a criminal actually do with your information?<\/h4>

Honestly, the world is their oyster. They can use your details to:<\/p>