Please be careful!

The names you are putting up here and on facebook are funny for all to see, but you are exposing yourself to hackers. Many times online accounts ask these security questions to gain access to your accounts. They might ask your grandmother's name, the name of your first pet, and the street you grew up on. The answers to all of these are now public information. Phishers can use this information to hack into all your accounts. A computer security friend of mine who works for a LARGE company told me to NEVER give out the following information online unless answering one of those security questions:

Maiden name
mother's maiden name
place of birth (HUGE NO-NO!!!)
name of first pet
street you grew up on
grandmother's/grandfather's name

Not trying to scare anyone, but you can never be too safe

Very Good Point !!
Thanks for Sharing this.

I think this may be a bit of an overreaction to something that was all in good fun. No one was forced at gunpoint to participate. JMHO!

Since no one's name or email addresses are asociated with the post, I think the above warning is alarmist and unnecessary and, in THIS case, not correct.

No, I agree with her. I thought about exactly what she's warning about before I posted in that thread. These are questions asked as security questions for passwords and bank accounts, too, these days.

The reason I decided to post in the end is because I don't participate in the real-world swaps, gifts and meetings, and I don't post under my real name. So no one really knows my name and current address. And, as it happens, I moved around a lot growing up, and I don't use that street name for security questions. But it is a risk, even so.