Mike Pryor turns to an online wish list for items for his family.
"These wish lists are, ah, very convenient."
The lists are a valuable gift giving tool. But the president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, Eva Velasquez, says the privacy settings are a concern, because if you aren't careful, anyone could search and find your information.
"People simply don't know; they don't realize how much information they're sharing."
Mike went back and checked his privacy settings on his family's wish list. Turns out, some were public.
"The information being shared with the wish lists and being public is quite eye-opening."
By browsing random wish lists, people were found revealing their occupations, ages, schools, their children, their cities and states. Velasquez says the info can be puzzle pieces for identity thieves.
"Think of your identity like a puzzle, and the more pieces of the puzzle someone has the better the picture they have, and the easier it would be to pretend to be you and commit identity theft."
Velasquez says The Identity Theft Resource Center has also seen people who have had other "unwanted visitors" on their lists.
"Perhaps you have a jealous ex-boyfriend or girlfriend and they're looking at your wedding registry that you have publicly available. You're giving them a lot of information, and maybe you don't want them to have that information."
Experts advise marking your list as private and share them only with people you want to see them.
