Nate Riggs: Social Business Strategies; communication, social web strategies, & passion in Columbus, Ohio.

I wrote about a personal experience yesterday where some snarky scam artist tried to take advantage of my grandparents with information he found via my internet presence.  While it’s kind of a funny story, there’s some real danger to be considered when your putting portions of your life online.

So what can you do to protect yourself from dishonest and web-savvy people?  How can you protect your friends and loved ones?  Should we all just unplug?  This post is going to be starter list of ideas that might help you and yours build offline habits that will keep social web predators from taking advantage of you.

OK, guys – notice the emphasis on the starter list. That’s what this is.  You are online a lot.  You too have kids, and houses and bank accounts.  You and I have tons in common and WE can all benefit from shared experiences and ideas.  I’m counting on you to make this post better.  Much better.

I’ll kick things off:

1. Create a family password.  This idea came form Gary Moneysmith yesterday morning.  Actually, it was his idea that spawned two days of content for me (many thanks, Gary!,).  Gary made a practice out of coming up with a verification word or phrase that only his immediate family members know.  For instance, if some stranger were to approach his kids and tell them that Dad had sent he or she to pick them up, the kids are instructed to ask the stranger for the secret password.  Not rocket science here, but a good practice for general safety.  I’m totally stealing this idea and making my own family password that I can teach to my kids.
2. Use nicknames. This one comes from Jim “Jimmer” Brochowski in yesterday’s comments.  It’s a great idea, and I never considered it before.  I’m going to try it on for size too.  Thanks Jimmer! “When I blog about my kids I try to just use their first initial. Maybe not so much now that they’re older and on the Internet, building their own networks, but definitely when they were younger.  When I blog about my wife, I almost always use her nickname – Netter, or NetterB.”
3. Google it.  Look up “social media safety” or “social media security.”  There have been loads of other blog posts published on this subject.  Some good one’s to read are by Joe Manna (back in 2007), Mark A. McCutcheon (2009), and a wonderfully detailed post by MakeUseof.com on how to use some of Facebook’s privacy and list settings.  You can also check out The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s website, as well as ConnectSafely.org for some more great info. I know, I’m totally cheating here, but all of these are resources worth looking at and the post was getting long.
4. Protect your location. Never – I repeat, NEVER! – list your address online.  And iPhone app users, be careful with the whole GPS location thing.  Web-savvy scam artists may know how to pinpoint your location.  Most applications out there will give you the option to be asked by your device if you would like to allow it to track you.  Make the choice wisely.  If you choose to use an address on social media profiles, you may want to consider getting a standard P.O. box at your local post office.
   
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That’s the starter list, so now it’s your turn.  I’ve saved that last bullet just for you so please drop in your ideas.

How do you protect you and yours from dishonest, web-savvy people?