I was in a meeting recently talking about tips on safety when I realized that most people really don’t care about it until they need it and at that point it’s most likely too late. In the world today, it is way too easy to be a victim. From email hacking to identity theft our virtual world has given the crooks an open door to our lives and left us vulnerable.
I’m sitting at my desk one day when my Facebook messenger goes off on my phone. It’s an industry friend. He says “Hey Dona, I saw this picture used on Tinder by a gal named Tina. I thought it was odd so I wanted to reach out.” The picture is of me! It was my Facebook profile picture.
At first I’m totally creeped out. What? Who? Why? Then I think, well, I guess I should be flattered that they think they can date with my picture? That lasted about a minute, then I was just angry. What an invasion! Who gives them the right to do this? What is their motive? I’m pretty sure when some guy shows up for the date I won’t be sitting there. And I’m pretty sure my boyfriend won’t appreciate the fact that I’m out there dating. I wonder if I am dating…am I popular? How many people are viewing my profile? Oh, wait, my bad…not important.
The point is, I put myself out there on the world wide web of social media. My face, my name, my horses…it’s all there. So how mad can I really be when I make it so easy? Better yet, what can I do to make it a little harder for them next time?
There are a few super easy things that can help with these issues. One is to set up a Google Alert with your name. Google will notify you when your name shows up anywhere on the web. How about setting up your listings? The scams where your listing information is scraped from a website and put on many sites as a rental can be caught fairly quickly if you are alerted. You can also right click on your profile pictures in Facebook where you will get the option to “search Google for this image.” Make sure you educate yourself on how your settings work for each of your social sites. Know who can see what and set them up according to your needs.
Change your passwords often people! I also hate this and realize this is a royal pain in the rear, but what’s worse; having to remember another password or getting your email hacked and your clients wire $5,000 to the wrong account for closing?
And in terms of just general safety, how does one keep themselves physically safe? They say safety is in numbers, well heck, then REALTORS® should be the safest industry out there with there being thousands of you! Not what they meant? No, probably not. And it’s not just you, the REALTORS’® safety to think about, but your clients too. Know your surrounds when showing homes. Was the door already unlocked? Should you actually enter that home? There are many things to keep you safe like pepper spray or jewelry and apps that notify someone of where you are, but the most successful deterrent of any of the threats out there is the use of a tool called common sense. Trust your instincts, you’d be surprised at how often they are right.
