BBB Tip: Be Safe When Sharing Back to School Photos of Your Kids

With the school year starting again, social media is full of adorable back-to-school photos. Often, these pictures feature a child holding a “first day of school” sign with basic information, such as their name and grade. But before you jump on the trend and snap a similar picture of your little one, read these tips and be cautious about what you share.

Back-to-school photo tips

• Avoid sharing personal details about your child. Back-to-school photos often involve kids holding a board with their full name, age, height, and other details. Scammers or predators could use this information to commit identity theft or earn your child’s trust.
• Leave off information about kids’ schools. Even sharing the name of your child’s school, teacher, or grade level could make them a target for unscrupulous people. Not to mention, these details are often used as security questions for banking or credit card accounts.
• Double check your privacy settings. Review your social media account’s privacy settings regularly. Be mindful of whom can view your posts. You may want to remove personal information from your account that others can see, such as your telephone number or address.
• Watch out for phony friend requests. Don’t accept friend requests from strangers. Also, think twice before you accept a friend request from someone you are already connected with. It could be an impostor trying to access your information and friends list.

For more information

See BBB’s article on sharing senior photos on Facebook, this scam alert about Facebook quizzes, and sharing your COVID-19 vaccine card on social media.

Check out BBB’s new page dedicated to scams on social media at https://www.bbb.org/all/social-media-scams

For more tips for staying safe online, read BBB’s tips on staying cyber secure.

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