The Dangers Of Oversharing Online

Nowadays, online banking, email accounts, and even online shopping require people to share quite a lot of their personal data. This has become something that is second nature to us. Social media asks us to post about our lives through pictures, and apps ask us to monitor our movements when exercising. This sharing can often help with ease of purchasing or connecting with others through the internet, but equally, it can come with serious risks attached. Many people don’t even realise how much they are sharing online at times. But oversharing data can dramatically increase the chances of you being a victim of fraud or malicious threats. Once you have opened yourself up to these harms, it can be hard to reverse this. But what are the most common dangers of oversharing, and how do you combat them?

Identity Theft or Fraud

The biggest danger you may face through oversharing online is identity theft, which can quickly lead to fraudulent activity. Fraudsters and malicious threats are experts at collecting and collating information from multiple sources. They will scour social media profiles, databases, and public posts to piece together information. Facebook profiles are the perfect spot for these kinds of fraudsters. Birthdates, pet names, hometowns, and frequent locations, along with photos, all allow malicious threats to gain information and create a portfolio. With this sort of portfolio, these cyber criminals can open accounts in your name, access your finances, or even go so far as to guess your passwords on accounts. 

In a bid to prevent this kind of thing from happening to you, the best step is to avoid access to that kind of data. Enabling private settings on social media and refraining from adding your details to websites that are untrusted are the best ways to do this. Some industries have taken it upon themselves to offer options for people to avoid sharing more data than they need to. Online casino without kyc platforms allow players to gamble with anonymity and reduced risk of identity theft, thanks to the removal of the need for ID for withdrawals and deposits. This means these platforms can be more secure without losing the instant payouts and wide range of markets that online casino players enjoy. This kind of example displays ways in which you can take active steps to ensure that your data is as secure as it possibly can be. 

Location-Based Risks

Identity fraud losses totalled over $12.7 billion in America in 2024, but despite this, there are other kinds of risks present from oversharing online.

Many who use apps and websites that ask for their location feel uncomfortable about this. And with good reason. All too often, people will overshare their location, address or place of work at will on social media. Posting real-time updates from your house, tagging work locations or even uploading runs to Strava from your doorstep reveals information straight away to people across the internet. This information can quite easily be used by malicious threats for stalking, harassment or even burglary. You could find yourself in a Home Alone situation where you post about being away on vacation, and criminals use this information to break into your home. 

Social Engineering

One of the more recent major scamming tactics that cybercriminals have been using is the exploitation of oversharing through manipulation. Around 98% of all online fraud uses social engineering tactics where scammers look to trick victims through trust or familiarity, allowing them to gain access to different information, which can result in fraud. 

Attackers often do this by sending phishing emails or texts that reference places you’ve visited, things you’ve posted online or in relation to other people you might know. Often this is done through online shopping and through postal packages. Fraudsters rely on malicious links and clever manipulation for success in these situations. If you don’t recognise it, don’t click it – especially if it is a link for something that looks uncommon. 

Professional Risk 

Stepping away from fraud, oversharing online can have pretty drastic consequences when your personal life meets your work life in some cases. Online profiles and posts that have been made in years gone by or in the heat of the moment can sometimes resurface, and let’s just say sometimes they don’t age well. 

Oversharing opinions and comments, particularly when they are linked to sensitive topics and politics, can leave you wide open for colleagues and workplaces to ascertain certain information about you, which might cause you some issues. Frustrations about the workplace could get back to your manager. Sharing information could result in disciplinary actions. Or posting inappropriate content may result in your views getting back to your work and them being disapproved of this. 

Once something is on the internet, it can very much be on there forever. So think carefully before oversharing anything online; it may come back to bite you one day.