Consumer Affairs Minister Tony Robinson yesterday warned people using networking websites they could expose themselves to scams.
“As more and more Victorians join social networking services, they need to be aware that there is an increasing number of con artists taking advantage of the popularity of these services to steal information and money,” Mr Robinson said.
“Frauds can use personal details listed on these sites to personalize their scam attempts.”
Some scammers use personalized emails persuading victims to give out their bank details, making their claims more believable by allowing their victim to view their MySpace, Facebook or Bebo page.
Frauds also use social networking sites to encourage users to unwittingly download spy ware software, which can be used to record online banking passwords.
Mr Robinson said users of social networking sites could protect themselves by only accepting “friend requests” from people they knew and trusted.