PEOPLE moving in to new homes are at risk of exposing themselves to crime through risky social media posts, experts have revealed.

Reading was identified as the second most at risk place in the country where social media users are likely to post something exposing themselves to crime.

An interactive social media crime map was launched to show families the correlations between crime hotspots and risky posts.

The findings revealed which towns and cities were most at risk of being burgled by disclosing when homes are empty and shopping habits.

Stephen Roberts, marketing manager at Yale UK, said: “With nearly 45 million social media users in the UK alone, sharing your personal details and whereabouts on social media sites can put your home and belongings in a vulnerable position.

"It’s vital that users keep an eye on their security settings to prevent being opportunistically targeted by online criminals.

“Alongside updating security settings, upgrading your home security can also deter potential burglars from making your home their next target. Investing in a high quality security system from a reputable brand will help secure and protect your home, even if you happen to share too much on social media.”

The research showed that people in Reading are highly likely to expose themselves to crime by sharing posts about a new home or a new car.

People also share when they are going away on holiday, which can lead a burglar to an empty home.

Richard Beaven, distribution director at Swinton Group, which produced the report, said: “On Twitter alone 88 per cent of all profiles are public, in our small study of 3,000 random UK tweets, a staggering per cent% of user’s biographies include the town they lived in.

"Regardless of the information you share on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, burglars can piece together key facts about a person by linking information across all platforms."