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

We can spot a lot of them a mile off. I like to be argumentative and contrary for the sake of it on the political ones in particular.😂

Now I know who u mean, when I saw the post on mothers maiden name I did think it was slightly odd and then other posts. Not jumping the gun but if it is someone stalking that’s a really scary length to go to. Have they continued to post?

Anyone can join Mumsnet.
It is evident or appears to me that some Americans have joined ( time of posts, phrasing, lack of understanding of how things work here), and particularly MAGA peeps. Seeking to influence. And getting very excited about the local elections. Women’s issues and aren’t men hard done by etc.
As to information, certainly DOGE were keen to obtain details of peoples personal details. And did so.
Also even journalists, political parties in the UK I suspect to gauge views on policy ideas.

All their 50+ threads have gone 'poufff' so I guess they have been shown the door.

By the way, @MistressBitch we were using 'they' because we neither knew nor cared either way and indeed, some of us suspected they might be an 'it'.

Yep, 'mummytolukeandlily1980' (So the kids names, and the poster's year of birth.)

And yes, I believe - as @Wildflowergalore said, that some people would happily give away the amounts of the last 2 transactions they made with their debit card/from their bank account (after already giving strong clues about their mother's maiden name and their first pet's name on a previous thread!)

No, if only it were that easy! 😂The owners of Ltd companies have their details on the Companies House website, which is available for public viewing.

THIS is the kind of comment that worries me. (And there are a few similar ones on this thread...) Whilst many posters on Mumsnet are clued up and vigilant, there do seem to be a few who are naive and somewhat clueless regarding all this, and can't see any reason to worry, like 'what's the problem dude?'

SMH. 😐

They'll be on Watchdog or Rip Off Britain soon, with their tales of woe, and how they've had £5000 stolen from their bank account, or someone has taken out a credit card in their name, and run up a £3000 debt, and they just have no idea how it happened!

You cannot be tracked from a current username to a previous one. Only MNHQ can do that. It certainly helps if you namechange regularly yes - especially if you're going to post something potentially identifiable such as a Bridezilla complaint, a work-related issue, embarrassing personal health worries, or an incident at your dc's school for instance. Choose a new name for like that.

People also need to be extremely careful about posting if they are a victim of abuse, in case their abusive partner finds the threads.

Some people seem to have made a hobby out of looking at an OP's other threads, and then bringing it up on the existing one saying something like "Well, on your other thread posted last week you said your dc was 11 and now you are saying they are 10 so which is it?" as if trying to catch them out in a lie. Not realising of course that it is good practice to say DS instead of DD for instance, or change ages slightly.

I did 😬 😂

Well I'm pleased the thread was started and has highlighted the issue to all users because so far MNHQ haven't even commented. A single email to them wouldn't have been much use.

What, this is an anonymous forum and we don’t know if any thread is started by a man or women but I never see all the pronouns on them 🤣🤣

The person. You shouldn't start thread about it just email MNHQ

Report what? This thread?

Report

What, referring to the person doing the threads, probably because it's not known if it's a man or woman, I often use they on here if I'm not sure

What’s with the they/ them pronouns?

Really surprised there's been nothing still. I thought I was jumping the gun a bit this morning and maybe because it was still early I was being a little unfair but now it's nearly 1pm and still no response?

Yes, I think so too. It is feeling unsafe, we are sharing ideas but really don’t know what is going on.

Add this to all of the IT issues currently happening and being reported. Admitted by MN but not urgently addressed.

My next step will be to deregister, I think.

Can @mnhq give some explanations and reassurance please?

Over the space of a couple of years you could find out all sorts about many thousands of people that way.

That's why I namechange quite frequently. Even on genuine threads, you can give away snippets of information over time which when put together tell quite a lot about you.

I never use my real name anywhere on any chat forum.

I never use the email address that contains my real name to sign up to forums.

Some people have usernames with their children's names in, which is also unwise.

Yup. I bet you that if post went up asking fpr last transaction amount on bank statement and which bank it would still have 100 replies...

Also do not share names/usernames across.

I should make myself an ltd 😁

Yes, unfortunately, some people who may be less clued up on financial security (you don’t know what you don’t know!) sometimes act like anonymous = safe, when it’s the exact opposite. I personally overshare on here, but only things that will not affect someone’s ability to access my bank account - personal anecdotes, health issues, etc. I’m just floored that the people who share things like their exact mortgage amounts don’t recognize how much that information is worth and you’re making it for sale on the open market by attaching a username to it. They’ll track you through the web until they find your given name.

Never use your MN username for anything else, nor your Instagram handle UNLESS you are registered as an active corporation, because corporations have more rights. Eventually each human will be openly treated to their own corporate entity from birth (this will completely remove the “child star whose parents steal all their money” phenomenon), with the rights that affords to both corporations and individuals, unless capitalism ends in enough time for a new system that doesn’t collapse.

I see posts on Facebook that get people to reveal their mothers maiden name and first pet. Common security questions

People can be so stupid!

E.g tell us your 'porn' name by combining the above

Until the website is hacked. Then all the info is available.

Crazy times we live in.

Market research?!?

Yes, harvest the responses - for what? Blackmail? They said if the site is hacked, then they will steal the email addresses - but never said for what.