BBB Warns Against Posting Senior Photos Online

What started out as a nice gesture to those who won't get the opportunity to share in the tradition of sharing senior class photos has given scammers an opening.

With the shutdown of the nation's schools comes the loss of opportunity for the class of 2020 to take part in many things that other classes have always been able to do, like proms, senior nights, and the senior class photos.

Some folks on social media got the idea that sharing their senior class pictures from previous years would make 2020's senior class feel somewhat better, knowing that others were thinking of them. Others began posting their photos as a way of needling today's senior class about what they're missing with the COVID-19 shutdown.

Regardless of the motivation for posting those senior class photos, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) wants you to know that it's a bad idea.

The BBB says, in a news release, that sharing your photos, year of graduation, and even your school's name can make it easier for online scam artists to figure out personal things about you that may make it easier for your ID to be stolen, or your password(s) figured out.

And, it's not just posting senior photos. The BBB also warns against taking Facebook quizzes, because scammers can use those to gather some of your personal information.

BBB.org:

These quizzes ask seemingly silly or meaningless questions, but scammers can use that information for nefarious purposes. For example, some quizzes collect personal information by asking questions like: “What is your mother's maiden name?” or “What is the name of the street you grew up on?” These are common security questions for banking and credit card accounts. Sharing this information can lead to your accounts being hacked, and your personal and financial information being stolen.

Not all social media quizzes are data collection scams, but BBB cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Social media data and quiz answers can be used to steal your identity or enable a scammer to impersonate you to your friends and family.