Do you have that one friend on social media who fills in Facebook Quizzes as fast as you drink your morning coffee – or perhaps you ARE that friend on social media?

We have all seen something like this popping up in our Facebook feeds: a post saying things like, “Molly Z’s word for 2024 is Fierce: What’s yours?”

The quiz in question might promise to match you to your perfect book, Harry Potter wizard, or Disney character, or challenge you to find your score by asking a long list of questions about silly (or interesting) things you’ve done in your life.

The bottom line is that these quizzes come in many shapes and seem like harmless fun, but they could actually pose serious privacy and data risks.

So, should you take that Facebook Quiz?

The short answer is, no. Those who investigate such things point out that social media quizzes can greatly increase the risk of social engineering tricks being used against you.

Cybercriminals create popular quizzes to gather what seems like innocent data: the month and day you were born, the street you grew up on, your pet’s name, your favourite food or colour.

All this information can then be correlated with anything on your public profile, such as your phone number, friend list, and email address, to create a clear picture of you. This allows a potential fraudster to custom-create a cyber-attack on you, aiming to take over accounts and commit identity theft.

And what’s identity theft?

Identity theft is when someone gains enough of your personal data to pose as you credibly enough to carry out financial transactions. Accessing bank accounts or applying for loans, store cards or credit cards in your name are some of the common actions of identity thieves.

So now that you know the terminology, here’s the next chapter in this potential phishing story…

How to stay safe

Clearly, the most foolproof way is to avoid taking online quizzes altogether and that is what we would suggest.

However, if you are determined to “keep quizzing” online, here’s the minimum you should do to stay safe:

• Analyse: before engaging with any quiz, check the quiz type and developer and review the privacy policy. IF the quiz asks for personal information, including contact information and other necessary data, it’s a clear sign of profiling and data harvesting, so steer clear.
• Adjust your privacy settings: check your privacy setting on social media and see if any quizzes have access to your profile information.
• Change your security question answers: if you know or think you have ever answered quizzes using answers for common security questions, change those immediately.
• Limit personal information: never share your home address or phone number on social media.
• Monitor all friend requests: don’t accept friend requests from strangers.
• Enable Two-factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): use any additional layer of security on your online accounts.
• Report any suspicious quizzes or links: if you think a quiz is a scam, report it to the social media platform.
• Install a reputable virus and malware detection software: always keep it running and updated.
• Educate others: warn friends and family about the risks of online quizzes and help keep them safe, too.