Warning: Think twice before answering these Facebook poll questions

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Following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, many Facebook users have been thinking long and hard about the information they share with the social network.

For example, do you answer any of those Facebook poll questions that show up in your feed?

RELATED: This new Facebook security tool can protect you from scams

Facebook privacy and security: What you need to know before answering poll questions   

Facebook’s “Did You Know” feature launched a few months ago as a way for users to share more about themselves with family and friends, but you may want to think twice about answering the questions.

Here are some examples of the questions that Facebook is prompting users to answer:

  • My dream car is…
  • The football team I’m most loyal to is…
  • An interesting hobby I have is…
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These questions may seem harmless, but what if the responses are just what a criminal needs to answer security challenge questions that you set up with a bank or other financial institution?

Using the information that you’ve shared on social media, someone could potentially gain access to your accounts.

Money expert Clark Howard says you want to make sure that your answers to any security challenge questions can’t be researched or guessed — so you may even want to lie.

He says you could use a pet’s birthday instead of a human’s birthday because that information isn’t public record.

Although many websites have moved to stronger authentication methods, you probably have at least one account that uses security questions like “What’s your mother’s maiden name?” and “What’s the name of your favorite pet?”

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Answering security questions with lies may not stop a hacker in every case, but at least it puts up another roadblock!

RELATED: Why you should change all of your security question answers right now

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