Social networking sites have become so popular that if you don't have a MySpace or Facebook page, people may consider you a little odd, at least if you're under a certain age. These sites are certainly popular and many find them to be endlessly entertaining; but these sites also present a problem in terms of protecting your privacy.

When you sign up for an account on these sites, you need to provide a lot of personal information, something which hasn't escaped the notice of identity thieves and hackers. These criminals are finding ways into these systems, stealing personal data and using this information to defraud users.

Scams on social networks are becoming increasingly common as the user bases of these sites continue to grow. Making the situation especially dangerous is the fact that many younger users who grew up with the web are quite a bit more trusting than their older counterparts. These users will often provide a lot of personal information right on their profile page, making the work of scammers even easier.

According to PC World, the average user of social networking sites lists at least three different types of personal information on their profile pages which can easily be exploited by criminals. These include their name, address, date of birth, phone number, the names of their parents and other information which an identity thief needs in order to commit fraud.

The overwhelming majority of social networking users are not even aware of the fact that they can adjust the privacy settings associated with their accounts in order to restrict access to these kinds of personal details. It's also the case that most users don't know who can look at this information on their pages and that most people use the same passwords for everything and rarely, if ever change these passwords.

Most instances of identity theft over social networking services happens as the result of adding someone who you don't know as a friend on the network. They may be listed as a friend of someone you do know personally, but before you go ahead and click that invite button, you may want to ask someone if they have any idea who he or she is.

It's important to not only know that there are privacy settings which you can configure but to actually use them to prevent access to your profile by anyone except people you actually know and have added as friends.

Other ways to keep your personal data safe on the web:

You can get a credit freeze to secure your credit, preventing new accounts from being opened under your name. This can be done by going to the website consumersunion.org and following the directions given for your state.

Implement identity theft protection and prevention:

There are identity protection monitoring services available which provide round the clock monitoring by scanning public records daily, alerting you if any suspicious activity is detected. In the event that your identity is stolen, there are even services which help you to put a stop to this crime and repair the damage identity theft can cause.

The important thing here is to be aware of the risks of giving out too much personal information on social networking sites; especially if you don't take advantage of the privacy features these sites offer. Protect yourself from identity theft and fraud by knowing the risks and taking action to avoid becoming a victim of criminals and scammers.

About Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP:

Since 1997, Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP is a unique business services firm specializing in employee legal plans and identity theft restoration benefits for employers of all sizes nationwide.

Organizations that proactively educate their employees about identity theft threats can reduce their chances of a costly data breach. Lionheart Assurance Solutions' training is designed to impact the way employees think. Changing the way employees think can result in a change in behavior that could reduce the risk of security breaches leading to identity theft.

Guided by a senior management team with more than a century of proven business success, Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP offers employee legal and identity theft restoration plans designed to enhance worker productivity by helping employees keep their focus on their work instead of on personal problems.

For small to medium-sized clients, Lionheart also offers a full range of plans that help small businesses to "level the playing field" by providing access to the kinds of legal and consultative advice that typically only a large corporation can afford.

Visit www.lionheartassurancesolutions.com for more information.