Clark Howard's Tips

May 8, 2008

Best Buy's Geek Squad is accused of spying on customers by digging through the hard drives of computers brought in for repair. This is not exactly a case of ID theft; at least one Geek Squad employee has fessed up to copying a woman's personal nude photos from her computer.

The message here is that you shouldn't be careless with your own info. This is especially important for teens that use popular social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Members of those sites usually list personal info -- date of birth, city and other specific identifiers -- that can greatly aid ID thieves.

Politicians have become particularly savvy at using the social-networking sites. Obama has done a great job reaching out to first-time voters. They're invited to join his MySpace page as virtual "friends." The politicians, of course, are ultimately seeking campaign money -- a more legitimate desire than an ID thief who also wants money but for a different reason.

If you're a parent, do you know if your child has a MySpace or Facebook page? Do you know who their virtual "friends" are or have any idea about what's on their page? One requirement should be that they make you one of their friends. You've got to know who they're virtually interacting with for their own good.

Consumer advice courtesy of