Social Thievery: Will Your Tweets Get You Robbed? [INFOGRAPHIC] (Mashable)

Social networks are an information gateway that allow people to share and connect in ways that were never previously possible. They can also be a pretty clever way to rob your neighbors. Burglars are starting to realize the criminal possibilities of social media. For example, Foursquare or Facebook can show when somebody is away from their home or traveling for the weekend. What better time to ransack when your victim is in Aruba? Credit Sesame, a personal finance tool and website, conducted a survey of 50 ex-burglars in the UK Nearly 80% of them said they had used Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to target which properties to rob. Another 73% said they used Google Street View to scope out neighborhoods ahead of time.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Says 600,000 Accounts Compromised Per Day]

Of course, the pendulum swings both ways. Home owners are getting crafty by using webcams and posting images to social networks to help identify criminals. There are also stories of busted computer criminals that were caught by remote picture-taking software.

The sample-size of the study may be small, but the high numbers do give some indication of the way social media can be used for ill intents.

[More from Mashable: How the U.S. Consumes Real-Time Entertainment Online [INFOGRAPHIC]]

Take a look at the infographic below, which has some of the dangers and solutions to creating a "socially safe" environment. Are fears about social media security entirely overblown are does it possess real danger? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Amber Grundy

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111101/tc_mashable/social_thievery_will_your_tweets_get_you_robbed_infographic

bobby fischer the lion king john cabot john cabot safety razor safety razor star wars blu ray