Identity theft masquerades in Facebook “name game” #privacy

Earlier this week there was a “name game” being played out on Twitter. For a couple of days my tweet stream was filled with people’s porn names as they happily divulged personal information about themselves under the guise of a game.

Since this information is publically available it is very easy for identity thieves to simply combine the real name of the twitterer with the “porn name” and harvest key facts that help secure the identity of the individual. The game encourages twitter users to post a combination of their first pet’s name and the street they grew up on (or their mother’s maiden name) to create the name they would use if they were a porn star. While this is similar to the methods used in the adult industry (so I am told), the fact that it is public and linked to the individual’s real name creates the risk of identity theft.

Read: The Twitter Porn Name Game Is a Scam! for more information.

However, a far more insidious variant of this tool appeared in my Facebook stream this afternoon where one of my friends posted their responses to a much longer questionnaire. Here is the questionnaire which encourages you to respond and post to your friends:

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names):
3. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad):
4. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name):
5. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
6. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, town where you were born):
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add “THE” to the beginning):
8. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name):
9. STREET NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie):
10. ROCK STAR NAME (pet’s name and street where you live):
11. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle):
12. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name):
13. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets):
14. GIGOLO NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy):
15. PORN NAME: (first pet, and mothers maiden name):

Now, how much more personal information do you need to fully identify a person and potentially gain access to their bank account, credit card account, address, mortgage – in fact their entire life – and steal it?

Please people – you watch the news about identity theft and discuss it in your local pub, bar, restaurant or book club, but as soon as one of these “games” appears in your social network you happilly divulge all your inner secrets. So, when your identiy is stolen, your bank account emptied and your credit cards maxed out, please remember your identity wasn’t stolen – you gave it away.