Since its inception, social media has been used to track users' locations, ushering in a new era of problems for those being hunted.
Recently, nineteen members and associates of a Mexican mafia prison gang were charged with conspiracy to murder an unnamed popular social media rapper.
While the Mexican mafia member referred to as “The Elegant One” gave his cronies the “green light,” meaning that the victim was marked for death, the plot was unsuccessful as the victim survived a brutal attack.
An associate of the Mexican mafia gang even visited the victim’s family home, armed and ready to attack.
But how did they know where the “well-known” social media rapper lived? Well, the gang members employed open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques to obtain information on the victim’s location.
While OSINT sounds technical, what they really did was harness social media to carry out their murderous attack.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) noted that one of the Mexican mafia associates followed the victim on social media, learning his whereabouts.
It might seem harmless to tag your location on your social media posts, or post images of yourself at popular settings, but if you’re wanted, for any reason, people could easily track you down.
This may have been the case for Valeria Marquez, who was shot and killed while broadcasting her whereabouts on TikTok live.
The 23-year-old beauty influencer was on TikTok live, a feature that allows users to communicate with their followers live, while she was being murdered.
Marquez was seen holding a pink stuffed animal toy before a man entered her beauty salon and shot her in multiple places.
The video, which has been reposted to social media accounts like X, is extremely graphic and shows Marquez sitting at a table in her beauty salon before she was violently murdered.
It’s quite possible that Marquez’s killer was aware of her location via the livestream. However, many have speculated that this was a well-orchestrated plan by Marquez’s “friend.”
Furthermore, social media is being used as a method to recruit teenage hitmen to carry out violent crimes.
Europol has warned that teenagers are being recruited via social media and encrypted messaging apps to commit murder.
While social media users can easily deduce your location, social media apps also track your whereabouts, which can lead to a whole host of security issues.
Your location data can always be used for malicious purposes, whether that be stalking, harassment, or extortion.
Just recently, an intimate dating app leaked over four million private records, which included exact GPS locations, sexual preferences, and explicit chats.
Cybernews researchers uncovered a massive data exposure tied to Headero, a hookup app popular in queer and alternative dating circles.
The most troubling part was that users' precise GPS locations were also exposed, posing serious risks to personal safety, particularly for individuals in vulnerable communities.
While this might be stating the obvious, it's advisable to check your social media settings to ensure that you’re not revealing more data than absolutely necessary.
It’s also strongly recommended not to share your location via social media, whether that be tagging the bar you’re in or the city you’re visiting, especially if your stories and social media accounts are public.
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