Social media quizzes can provide hackers with personal information

Social media quizzes may seem fun, but scammers can use the answers you post to steal personal information.

‘What’s Your Royal Guest Name’ recently circulated on social media. People can leave their answers in the comment section for others to see.

In order to find out, users are told to name one of his or her grandparents, followed by their first pet’s name and finally the street they grew up on.

Do those questions sound familiar?

They should, they’re common security questions.

Security questions are often the last line of defense against something like a banking password.

Security expert Carrie Kerskie tells us it’s all in the presentation.

“They want to make it look fun, they want to make it look easy, they want to make it look like it’s non-threatening, that way you let your guard down and participate,” Kerskie said.

The information alone may not seem like a huge deal, but combined with other information found on personal profiles, like your full name and location, and you could be looking at a bigger threat.

“It could be going anywhere for any bad guy to try and use for social engineering so they can hack into your accounts.”

When it comes to online quizzes, Kerskie says stay away.

“If you wouldn’t put it on a billboard on a highway, don’t put it on the internet.”