There are photos all over social media of people celebrating getting the COVID-19 Vaccine… but those selfies are putting their personal information at risk and are making them the target of identity thieves and fraudsters.
Both the FBI and Federal Trade Commission recently issued consumer warnings about posting selfies with COVID vaccine cards on social media.
The vaccine cards include your full name, birthdate, where you got the vaccine, and the date you got it… and when you post it to Facebook, Instagram or other social media, you’re handing those valuable personal details over to cybercriminals who are looking for this information.
Identity theft is like a puzzle, made up of pieces of personal information. With seemingly small pieces of information, cybercriminals can start to piece together more and more details about you… including your address, phone number and other information.
Criminals aren’t just using these COVID vaccination pictures for identity theft. They’re also using them in social engineering scams. If they know you’ve already gotten the first dose of the vaccination – and they’ve got your phone number – you might receive a phone call from someone falsely claiming to help you schedule your second dose of the vaccination. When they do this, they’re probably going to ask for your social security number, and they might even ask for a credit card number to hold your scheduled time. And with fears of vaccine shortages everywhere, most people are eager to reserve their spot in line. With a social security or credit card number, a cybercriminal can do a lot more damage. But it might also seem normal for the person calling you to ask you for your medical insurance information as well.
Criminals know they can easily sell this information on the dark web… either to people that want to steal your identity to get healthcare treatment for themselves… or use it to get your medical records. A single medical record can sell for up to a thousand dollars on the dark web. Medical records contain so much information that the criminal can use it to perform countless types of fraud and they might even blackmail you to prevent your private health information from being exposed.
While you might be eager to let people know that you’ve been vaccinated for COVID, be careful who you might be sharing this information with. Oversharing on social media is increasingly how cybercriminals are targeting people for social engineering attacks. Finally, be sure to check your social media privacy settings so you know who you’re sharing information with.