ATLANTA — The next online review you post could unintentionally reveal information about your social network, according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin.
Researchers developed a computer model to analyze Yelp reviews and found that people who know each other are more likely to visit the same places and influence how they write reviews.
Researchers say connecting those patterns could make it easier for cybercriminals to identify contacts and impersonate someone a person knows.
The more connections a scammer can identify, researchers say, the more impersonation attempts they can make and the greater their potential returns from targeting and sending emails.
The research did not find evidence that criminals are currently using Yelp reviews to scam people, only that it is possible for information from reviews to be used in that way.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.