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

This is one very good reason for tweaking immaterial details: make your ds a dd, your DB a DSis etc ...

Others might have a different answers, I think... They could be trying to harvest information about posters which could be used if MN was hacked and usernames were linked to email addresses, then you've got a bunch of useful info about those people. I think that's fairly low risk but you never know. Some of the questions are the same or similar to security questions for online systems etc. name of first pet for example.
Second, and what I think this is, is AI bot traffic. Which will be for machine learning purposes. Or to drive traffic as MN sells advertising and will need engagement stats for that. Now I'm not saying it's MN doing this, to be clear, I think it's just machine learning bots.
Third, it's someone who is actually trying to identify another user. If they have suspicions and that particular user gives the right answers to the questions then they could be identified.
Lastly it's someone who is very very bored but also doesn't have anything interesting to talk about.

Does anyone know if you can just block a user so you can't see their posts anymore?

Why not just hide and ignore

People asking intrusive questions on message forums sometimes do it to harvest personal information, and it is a common form of social engineering. They often try to build a profile of you to facilitate identity theft, account takeovers, or phishing attacks.

Yes, this is a better expressed version of what i was thinking in my post above ...

There have been a few I assumed were AI.

I would not be answering anything like my middle name, DOB etc... It's like they are trying to collate profiles.

@ChocolateAddictAlways

Hopefully this will help. .

People asking intrusive questions on message forums sometimes do it to harvest personal information, and it is a common form of social engineering. They often try to build a profile of you to facilitate identity theft, account takeovers, or phishing attacks.

Here is how to identify and deal with this behavior:

Common Info-Harvesting Techniques

The "Slow Burn" Build: They ask innocent, non-intrusive questions over time to gain trust, eventually moving on to deeper personal details.
Fake Relatability: They mimic your situation (e.g., "I'm going through the same thing, what bank do you use?") to trick you into sharing sensitive info.
The "Why" Game: They act overly interested in your daily routines, location, workplace, or family to map out your digital footprint.
Contradictory Probing: They may post controversial takes to make you angry, hoping you will reveal personal details in a defensive, emotional rant.

How to Handle Intrusive Questions

Flip the Script: Ask them back: "What’s your intent in asking that?" or "Why do you want to know?".
Use Humor/Vagueness: Deflect with a smile. "Why? Are you writing a biography?" or "That’s top-secret information".
Set Firm Boundaries: It is acceptable to say, "I prefer not to discuss that," or "I keep my private life off this forum".
"Brutal" Honesty: If they are persistent, give an absurdly awkward or detailed answer that makes them uncomfortable, such as "I only discuss my credit score with my accountant and my psychic".

Protecting Yourself Online

Use Pseudonyms: Never use your real name, birthday, or location in usernames or bios.
Report and Block: If a user persistently asks intrusive questions, report them to the forum moderators and use the block function immediately.
Check Privacy Settings: Ensure your profile, post history, and contact information are not public.
Assume Everyone is a Stranger: Treat everyone on a public forum as a stranger, regardless of how long they have been active.

😂😂😂

& people will STILL answer!!

EDIT: I have just read the most recent posts and now understand! I can't delete this piat annoyingly

_

Can someone explain to me what the reasoning behind those posts is? Is it just to generate traffic on MN?

I am completely unaware about issues around social media so would appreciate being enlightened :)

Oh.
Just come across this poster.
Stranger and stranger.
Wonder what they are playing at.

Of course it has to be a complete coincidence, of course it does, but I've just checked my emails. Someone has tried to hack my X account this evening, only a few minutes after I posted on one of these spurious threads.

I haven't used the X formerly known as twitter for ages.

😆

'Or what was the name of your first pet?'

Their first (and one and only) post ...

'Dappy.'

With the mother's maiden name one, a few posters were giving away quite a lot of clues and information about themselves. It's quite scary. 😬

If someone sent you a letter what would they write on the envelope?

The next thread is going to be "do you like the three digit code on the back of your debit card?"

Sounds like a creep that’s trying to find an ex partner.

I saw them post today and saw the user name and thought hmm really?

Yeah they posted today asking do you like your mothers maiden name ?

The first thread was 'what's going on outside your house now?'

Their first (and only) post...

'Nothing.'

What was the point?

Also questions asking about peoples childhood homes, and surnames, and demographic of their villages/towns, and trying to find out what people have - and don't have - within 10 minutes walk of their house, their village or suburb crime rate, asking about peoples mums and dad's fashion (trying to gauge their ages,) what accent do people have (fishing for the areas people live in,) popular girls names when people were at school (fishing for posters ages...) And asking people if they like their mum's maiden name, (maybe in the hope someone may mention their mum's maiden name...) All rather odd.

Oh, and there are a few more random threads peppered here and there in the middle of them all....

So the fishing for info ones don't stand out too much!

.

It’s pretty easy to figure out which poster you are talking about but I am curious as to what the point of ’harvesting replies’ would be?

Some of the posts do seem more like they are trying to identify someone they already have quite a lot of information about though, like about things about childhood and parents that go beyond maiden names into anecdotes. But then some seem very much to aim to identify where someone is living now. My guess is not random harvesting but a stalker of an ex who is a mumsnet user.

Oh my... Like the Facebook posts that ask

'Your first pet, the street you first lived in, and your mother's maiden name is your country star name.'

So mine would be Jessy Wellings Jones ...

First dog Jessy, first street Wellings Avenue, mother's maiden name Jones.

I used to answer these things, but it was the early days of social media (pre 2010) and at the time I didn't realise my information was being harvested, and sometimes for nefarious purposes... Like the 3 questions I put are questions/answers you have answer to access your bank details and credit card account etc...

This is giving the same vibe.

I am never posting on one of this poster's threads again... I have only answered a couple, but I'm done now. I think this kind of thing has been around for some 2 decades, but people drop their guard when they're posting on a friendly message board, and it just seems like a bit of fun.

(nb; these are not real answers for me.)

Not so far........😂

It would be interesting to find out if a private message follows engaging with the thread. It would be easy to strike up messaging, with the information gleaned…then use the built friendship for whatever…

^ Totally agree with this.

Even if not, it is bloody annoying when a poster starts a thread and then fucks off.

I have seen a couple of the threads mentioned but I haven't even clicked on them so wouldn't have noticed it's the same username each time. The ones like "whats your middle name" etc just from the title alone I was a nope! I probably can be identified if you knew me and read all my threads but that just screamed to me "I'm trying to identify someone" so it staggers me that people actually opened the thread let alone engaged in it!

I agree with others though that I would report each thread, not sure if anything will be done about it but at least you can be at peace knowing you've tried to protect any vulnerable users from engaging in these identifying threads