823 Copyright © 2020, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Section 4: Financial Fraud, Identity Theft, and Social Manipulation Through Social Media DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-9715-5.ch055 4 INTRODUCTION In this 21 st century and beyond, many can attest to the role of ICT in the development of communication in the world. According to Adaja and Ayodele (2013 p. 65), ‘one of the developments in Information and Communication Technology in the 21 st century was the finding and advent of the new media which have enabled the formation of several channels of social communication.’ As a result of the fast-growing technology, in social communication, there has been dependence on the internet by a large percentage of individuals around the world. Consequently, personal information is shared when creating profiles on social media platforms thereby making it easy for online crimes to take place. Security attacks such as hacking, identity theft, phishing scams, viruses are now common online as users share their names, date of birth, the name of schools, family information, and others on social media sites. While activities online increase, there are concerns about the ways personal information shared by social media users may be collected and analysed (Hinduja and Patchin, 2009). According to Walker (2016) the state of the net poses, that more than half of the people using social media applications share private information about themselves online, exposing themselves to online dangers. The findings reveal that: 25% of persons with a Facebook account do not use the site’s privacy control or are not aware of them, 40% of social media users post their personal identity information online, exposing them to identity theft and 9% of social media users dealt with a form of abuse within the past year (e.g., malware, online scams, identity theft or harassment) (Finch, 2003). Due to this increase, there seems to be a connection between the usages of such media with identity theft, cyberbullying, online sexual predators mainly affected youths because of lack of security con- sciousness and privacy about personal information (Jegede, et, al; (2016) McGillivray, 2015). Also, Social Media and Identity Theft Implications on Nigerian Victims and International Economy Tolulope Kayode-Adedeji Covenant University, Nigeria Obianuju Victoria Okeke Covenant University, Nigeria Lanre Amodu Covenant University, Nigeria Opeyemi Fasanya Covenant University, Nigeria Nelson Okorie Covenant University, Nigeria