There is a poster that seems to be here just to harvest replies. What should I do?

Does this now mean that any thread that’s not one of the usual MN moans “AIBU about dogs in cafes” is going to be suspect? I really liked the “childhood homes” thread, but are we not allowed to
start ones like that now?

I still cannot believe no one from MNHQ has commented on the thread?

Have they been in touch regarding the deleted threads for those who reported beyond the usual we will look into this email?

Because MN should be trying to protect users of the site from scams and fraud, and abuse of the site for criminal purposes.

I realise that this makes me sound a little paranoid/jaded no, not at all. I hadn’t really thought about this and it’s useful to be reminded how careful we have to be.

I read threads on the Genealogy board sometimes, and would always swerve posters trying to find long lost living relatives. It's worth suggesting they try the Salvation Army service, but that's it.

You never know why someone has become 'long lost' in the first place, do you? There might be a very good reason why they don't want to be found.

@Another2Cats

It also happens on Facebook. "trying to trace anyname who went to school in xtown in 2002".

People will post in good faith thinking they are helping (which may well be the case), but they have no qualms in saying "oh, I know her sister, think she lives in anothertown now". Or, even worse, they may tag anyname who could well be using a different name on FB.

The sensible thing to do if you know anyname (or their friends/relatives) would be to contact them to let them know that randomFBaccount is trying to track them down and then let them take it from there.

I realise that this makes me sound a little paranoid/jaded, and of course there are some lovely, genuine people in the world but it's irresponsible enough if you volunteer your own details (pet's name, maiden name, town you were born etc) let alone passing on info about someone else to a complete stranger.

Posters should also be wary of the "how can I trace this person?" threads. You see replies saying "DM me - I have access to/subscriptions for xyz and can check for you". Whilst this can, of course, be helpful to a genuine poster, you need to stop and think about the fact that MN is anonymous and you have absolutely no idea who is actually asking.

There could be a very good reason that the person being sought is flying under the radar.

@EmpressaurusKitty Good spot. 😃

Another thread came up in Relationships just now, asking about childhood crushes. I reported & it vanished almost instantly.

It’s not that hard to link one username to another sometimes. Changing frequently is one way to stay anonymous and not give too much away but it’s not foolproof. Especially if mn was to get hacked. Again.

I'd rather not even think about it now!!!!

Millions of people all over the world have that. Identity theft requires a bit more than just those details. Presumably you have a business email and a personal one?

Whilst many posters on Mumsnet are clued up and vigilant, there do seem to be a few who are naive and somewhat clueless
and are laughing at this from one of their other usernames

The recent What’s the furthest from your real age you’ve ever been mistaken for (or* *however it was phrased) thread was taken down. I noticed this and wondered why. Now that I think about it, a lot of people answered this by giving their actual age. I’m going to be a lot more careful about how which posts I respond to in future.

Sole trader, so personal address. Oh, well. But thank you for pointing it out.

Personal address or company address? And available to view by the great unwashed?

I don't think I would be happy about my personal address being on a website like that, it's one thing for them to have your address on their server but quite another to have it visible to everyone. Can you complain and get it taken off?

Then I am screwed. My name is on my professional association website, together with the address, and email. And my photo.

MN have left this thread up so they seem happy for people to discuss a dodgy OP.

Identity theft. They don't need access to your account via internet banking. If a crook has enough details about you they can open accounts and get loans in your name. You only find out about it when the lender starts chasing you for unpaid repayments and your credit score drops like a stone.

Sorry, I do not have internet banking. Never had. I cancelled all my credit cards 6 years ago, only have debit, on which I don't have an overdraft facility. I don't send naked pics to anyone. Yes, friends owe me a lot of money and I don't think they have any intention of repaying me, I have made purchases which were in hindsight a rip-off, but I am not naive.

Yep, which only seems scary because sometimes people still don’t understand the full connections of value to specific information. The amount of info Companies House makes public is the same amount of info that can already be found ABOUT anyone for free BY anyone in the UK, even just using free access to 192.com - it’s less than the level of council tax info and that’s all publicly available on that site. Everything you’ve ever listed in your council tax about name, address, even additional occupants is available for free - so, this is being packaged and sold constantly by data brokers. It’s how you get junk mail in the name of exchange students you haven’t seen in 20 years that lived with you briefly decades ago. “Not on Companies House” doesn’t make you any safer 😂 I just discovered some mail we accidentally receive was for a non-UK citizen listed as an additional occupant on council tax at my address in fucking 2006! It took me 15 seconds and £0 for that info, and once I had it, I could trace their entire address history in the UK.

Your name plus your address plus whether you have a mortgage plus whether you have kids plus whether you’re married plus your common internet username plus things like your favourite colour, your mortgage amount, your mother’s maiden name - these are what adds up to $$$ in that business. That’s why the account this thread is about started 55 different threads - to see if it was viable way to establish profiles to sell. And if you have all this on someone, you can use “dirty” (possibly extra-legal) access requests to get more info to sell. That’s why it’s good to know what the legal threshold is to access your data and truly important data should only be accessed through live verification that your passport is in your possession and it’s you in possession of it (American Express use ID Kit this verification, for example - “live” photo of your passport followed by a live selfie) - unless you have to walk into a location in person or follow steps this in-depth, someone can steal that data. When I last had to stay up to date on this stuff, years ago, name + address itself was worth less than 0.00000001 (it might be up due to current political climate, maybe 0.0000001?) pence without this additional information.

Somebody can just call Cambridge Analytica or some sketchy dude on TOR for current pricing info 😂.

Add to do naivete sending money....

Answer or make yourself an ltd 😂

I think they are convinced that “mums” are so stupid that we won’t even notice.