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

[Another2Cats]

Very much as the title.

There is a poster here who made her (their?) first post on 25th April.

Since then, she (they) has made 57 posts, of which 55 are starting threads that appear to be just there for soliciting engagement. This is done by way of asking a question and providing a three or four word opening post. Or sometimes only a single word in the opening post.

Should I highlight this to @MNHQ and, if so, should I link to all the 55 threads that they have started since 25th April?

For context, I am often on the Genealogy board and it was only after seeing two threads started by this person there that I took notice and realised that they had also started multiple threads on other boards as well.

This included Chat, Other Subjects, Tech Tips, AIBU, Property/DIY, Music, Sports, UK Travel, Education, Baby Names, Living Overseas, Style and Beauty, True crime and unsolved mysteries, Bullying, Parenting, Pets, Food/Recipes, Wildlife nature & conservation, and Telly Addicts.

Starting 55 new threads in the space of two and a half weeks which appear to be very much about soliciting engagement doesn't seem to really be in line with what MN is really all about.

Just to add to that, the username of this person is a direct reference to a thread that the newspapers back then picked up on. It was a thread from 2013 that people who were here then would likely remember and the poster is likely purporting to be somebody with a history dating back to then (despite their first post being on the 25th April this year).

Without giving the name of this poster, it would be like if she had called herself something like "Isle of Wight bollards" or "stacking goats".

Am I even right to call out this sort of harvesting of replies?

Are MNHQ likely to do anything about this even if I do make a complaint?

Report it. In the new context it might get deleted.

Yeah, this one has been deleted.

When you say ‘bots’ - what does that mean?

Are they real people?
AI generated?
A bug that is infiltrating MN?

I don’t really understand…🤔

Same poster under different name- b..c...fatballs (again, a username alluding to classic threads) asking a few weeks ago for letters from parents' names. Post reported.

Update- MN have removed the thread now.

I've just been on a thread about someone leaving their receipt at an ATM, and one poster has mentioned they bank with TSB. I think MNHQ should really be warning people that there is at least one poster on here fishing for information.

The naivety of posters is concerning. But is MN obliged to protect them from themselves?

I suppose not. Just wondering because mumsnet know there is currently a poster around who is purposely looking for info - presumably that's why they are deleting all these threads. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't clicked on this thread. It wouldn't hurt them to put up a reminder about not sharing any personal details.

Morning everyone.

It sounds like this is a returning banned poster who we are aware of. While we've no reason to think they are here with any nefarious purpose, as always, we wouldn't encourage anyone to share too much personal information that could be put together and used in any way but we'd hope that people would be as cautious as they are anywhere on the internet and not post anything like that on those threads either.

If you spot anything similar and are concerned please do just hit the report button. We can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is a previously banned poster or just someone innocently asking a question and not returning to the thread, but we're always happy to check things out.

Its obviously either a scammer looking for answers to security questions or an AI bot using MN as a training ground

It's happening on Gransnet too. I just scroll past. Still annoying though.

@Another2Cats I really want to know their username

Three click bait threads today, guaranteed to rile folks up. Things like forgetting to renew passports, getting insurance can I leave the kids at home is one. There's been two others today. Ah well it's school holidays.

This sounds like criminals trying to get security question information from as many people as possible to identify targets.

Adding as many questions as possible to add enough noise to mask their nefarious purpose. Seems really obvious actually.

Do chat bot information harvesters only work in the school holidays then, that doesn't seem very likely

No they just increase in the holidays.

Why would bots or bad actors care about UK schools holidays? Are posters more prone to give away their pets names when their children aren't at school? If anything I'd have thought the site traffic would be down during holiday weeks

I think you report suspicious threads and give a thorough explanation like you've done here, with links.
AFAIK @mnhq isn't valid, though. Use the report button from the menu under the three dots on tbe top right of the post.
You can also report to the Night Watch and they either delete it or hide it until it can be reviewed. You can find the Night Watch under
Talk Topics then Mumsnet Stuff.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_night_watch

I've reported one this morning.

There’s another one now but it seems more like an exercise in creating engagement rather than data harvesting.

Can you give us a clue on who it is.

There’s a where do you live one just popped up in “retirement”

Yes I’ve noticed them too. I’ve been reporting them but not had it taken seriously. I do find it frustrating that posters can notice things over time/across a thread and try and give MN a picture of what’s going on then they glance at one post, don’t see the issue (because the issue is the pattern) and leave it.

Yeah my MN usernames are just random shit I make up on the spot. See above name 😄

Ive been on here for yonks but name change a lot more since the infamous hack a few years back.