MIDLAND, Texas —
If you’ve been on the internet long enough, you’ve probably come across online quizzes asking for seemingly harmless information about yourself like your favorite color, childhood pet name, last couple digits of your phone number, etc.
The FBI warns these could be potential data mining scams.
“You know they’re just simple little quizzes that people are like, ‘Ah, you know, just waste some time and let’s just have some fun with it’. But what we’re seeing is that these scams are asking very important questions a lot of people use as passwords out there.” said Jeanette Harper, public affairs officer for FBI El Paso.
It’s a common stereotype to believe that only the elderly can really fall for stuff like this.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.
“We used to think that it was the elderly, right? Because they weren’t used to interacting on social media and just the internet. But we’re starting to see a lot of individuals within the 20 to 30 age bracket falling for these things because they spend a lot of time on the internet, and they actually put a lot of information about themselves on social media.” Harper continued.
The FBI recommends using an authenticator app or multi-factor authentication whenever possible on your accounts.
Also, to not respond to social media memes or quizzes asking for personal info.