A news report from British firm Legal & General has found that people who regularly update their status and profiles on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are at a higher risk of being targeted by robbers than their non-blogging friends.
The Digital Criminal report found that 38% of Facebook and Twitter users had posted updates about their holiday plans and when they will leave their houses, while a third of the bloggers told followers when they planned to be away for the weekend.
Reformed criminal Michael Fraser, who appears on the BBC's Beat the Burglar, helped the insurers develop the report. Fraser said that there was no doubt that criminals were using the internet to target people.
"I call it internet shopping for burglars," he commented.
"It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people and then scope out more information on their actual home using other internet sites like Google Street View, all from the comfort of their sofa.
"It scares me to see how many people are prepared to give away valuable information about themselves, to people they simply don't know well enough - if at all."
It was found that 64% of 16 to 24 yr olds had detailed holiday plans online, and more than 70% of internet users said sites like Facebook were perfect for showing off new purchases for presents.
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