Sharing your senior portrait on social media could come back to haunt you, agency warns

A popular meme inviting people to share their senior portraits on social media could result in unintended consequences, warns the Better Business Bureau.

The viral meme encourages people to share the photos to support 2020 high school graduates stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, the agency says.

While it “seems harmless and fun,” following the crowd in this case could inadvertently open the door to scammers, according to the Better Business Bureau.

“Scammers or hackers who surf through social media sites will see these #ClassOf2020 posts, and will now have the name of your high school and graduation year, which are common online security questions,” the bureau warns.

“All it takes is an internet search to reveal more information about you, such as family members, your real name, birthdate or even where you live,” the agency says.

Other popular online quizzes shared on social media ask people to list their former vehicles, favorite athletes or top 10 favorite television shows, to name a few.

But those, too, could provide scammers with the answers to common password security questions, the bureau says.

“If your social media privacy settings aren’t high, you could be giving valuable information away for anyone to use,” warns the agency.

The Better Business Bureau site advises people not to play along with online memes, review their security settings and change online security questions if needed.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Sharing your senior portrait on social media could come back to haunt you, agency warns."