For this week’s Fraud Friday, I want to touch on a subject that almost every parent does, but no one really thinks about. Something that can have a long-lasting effect on children and could have a potential negative impact on them for the rest of their lives. A relatively new term for me, Sharenting. The word combines “sharing” and “parenting” and refers to the habit parents have of posting about their children online. Of course this is commonplace, it is great to share pics and children’s achievements for those family members who live far away. It is an easy way to stay connected to those we don’t see as much as we would like. It is also a good way to mark milestones or memories. However, oversharing of your child’s life poses many dangers. After all, it isn’t just those relatives or your Facebook friends or Insta followers that can see those posts. You may be wondering what sharing on social media has to do with fraud. Well, fraudsters are literally everywhere, and they are constantly on the lookout for ways to take advantage of people. And those privacy setting on social media? Those can be bypassed by features like tagging and resharing, even when your account is set to private. Let’s take a look at Sharenting, what it is and why it can be harmful.
Sharenting is the act of parents oversharing their children’s pictures, videos, and personal information on social media. Each post or photo done online creates a permanent digital footprint. While it is done with good intentions from most parents, for children this is especially dangerous. These digital footprints can lead to potential identity theft, future embarrassment or bullying of the child, sometimes even consequences later in life that affect future jobs or other opportunities. Details like birthdays, pet names, addresses, etc. can be used by criminals for all sorts of nefarious reasons. Here are some dangers of sharenting:
- Cybersecurity threats: Sensitive data could be shared leading to identity theft or digital kidnapping. (theft of a minor’s photos, posing as them, or posing as a parent)
- Financial fraud and scams: Fraudsters can use information collected from social media to take out loans or credit cards in the child’s name. Since you don’t normally monitor a child’s credit, this fraud can go undetected for years and sometimes isn’t even discovered until much later when your child applies for a loan or credit card themselves.
- Synthetic identity fraud: Using a child’s stolen Social Security number combined with some falsified information, criminals can create a new “synthetic” identity to open fraudulent credit accounts.
- Future consequences: Info shared online could potentially impact a child’s future college admission or job prospect.
- Emotional and mental health impact: So much of today’s society revolves around a person’s social media presence. Children may experience anxiety, depression, or feelings of inadequacy if their posts do not receive enough likes or if they don’t have enough followers. Also, parents tend to share things that we find funny, but our kids get embarrassed over. These posts can lead to teasing or bullying, both in real life and online.
- Privacy violations: When anyone shares a picture online, it is out there forever. As children get older, they may become resentful that the parents put their lives online, especially if it was without their knowledge or consent.
- Exposure to predators: Worst of all, sharenting can make your child more vulnerable to online predators. The more information that is out there, especially location, full name, schedules or habits, the easier it is for a predator to find their prey.
- AI: Criminals can use AI generators to create images of any child they would like in any scenario they can think of. AI imagery can be so life like that you can’t tell the difference between it and reality.
Here are some tips to protect children from sharenting risks:
- Involve children in decisions: teach them about consent and allow them to have a say in what is shared online.
- Review privacy settings: make sure social media accounts are set to private which will limit who can view content. While there isn’t technically a way to stop someone from stealing a photo, you can make it harder for someone to try.
- Avoid sharing sensitive information: do not post images that reveal location, full name, or anything else that could lead someone back to your child.
- Think long term: consider how content shared today could affect your child in the future.
- Educate yourself: stay informed of the risks of oversharing and the evolving landscape of online privacy.
- Freeze your child’s credit: You can place a credit freeze online by visiting each of the credit bureau’s websites. Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian all have easy options online to place a freeze that you can remove at any time.
Sharing and posting is a way of life now, social media isn’t going anywhere any time soon. There are very real dangers online that you and your children should be aware of. While it is wonderful to have the means to share accomplishments, milestones, and pictures of children with family and friends, parents need to be aware of the potential consequences of oversharing. Parents must weigh the joy of sharing against the risks that too much of it could pose. Ultimately, it is up to us to protect our children not only from physical danger but online as well. Bottom line: Sharenting may feel like a modern form of scrapbooking, but in the hands of the wrong people, that scrapbook becomes a tool for fraud. Awareness and caution are the first steps toward safer online sharing.
