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We have all seen the posts of quizzes taken by friends, but are they safe to take? There have been many going around Facebook and with more people at home at this time more are participating in taking these quizzes.

Quizzes such as What does your sassy road sign say? What’s the first thing you should do post-isolation? Which celebrity do you look like? What will you look like at age 70?, may seem harmless and fun but hackers and scammers use these quizzes to access your personal information leaving you vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.

Before you click the “Click to Play” button think twice.

The Better Business Bureau:

How the Scam Works:

You see a fun quiz on Facebook or another social media platform. What’s the harm, you figure? You answer a few questions and prove how well you know a friend. Or you take a short personality test to match with a character from your favorite TV show.

These quizzes ask seemingly silly or meaningless questions, but scammers can use that information for nefarious purposes. For example, some quizzes collect personal information by asking questions like: “What is your mother’s maiden name?” or “What is the name of the street you grew up on?”  These are common security questions for banking and credit card accounts. Sharing this information can lead to your accounts being hacked, and your personal and financial information being stolen.

Not all social media quizzes are data collection scams, but BBB cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Social media data and quiz answers can be used to steal your identity or enable a scammer to impersonate you to your friends and family.

Related article:

CBC NEWS: Why taking Facebook quizzes is a really bad idea