Celebrating your COVID-19 vaccine? Be careful with your vaccine cards!
Many people are celebrating being vaccinated for COVID-19 and that is great! But don’t post your vaccination card on social media. Why? The Federal Trade Commission gives us a few reasons:
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Identity Theft - Your vaccination card has information on it including your full name, date of birth and where you got vaccinated and the day you got it. When you post this information on Facebook or Instagram, you’re handing over valuable information to someone who could use it for identity theft.
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It’s a Puzzle - It’s easiest to think of your identity as a puzzle, and the thieves are picking up pieces of your personal information to get the whole “picture”. These pieces can include your date of birth and place of birth, which they can then use to guess most of the digits of your social security number. This can then be used to open new accounts in your name, claim your tax refund and other activities.
Whenever you are on social media, never share information that could serve as a key to your PIN number or answer a security question. Always check your privacy settings to make sure you’re not sharing your information with more people than you think.
And the best way to share the new about your vaccination? Show off that vaccine sticker!