Being approached online at reddit - curiosity or something more sinister?

I rarely post at this forum but I do so frequently at the military-related and defense-related subreddit at Reddit.

I take OPSEC very seriously, and as a result, never post anything about my own country but I do ask a ton of questions about military and defense related issues.

And very recently, I received an unsolicited message asking about my background -the guy introduced himself. I just feel a bit wary - and worried. What caught my eye was that he mentioned my age - and mentioned that he saw I posted my age elsewhere, and that raised my eyebrows, because while I did mentioned it, it was probably buried deep in my past comments somewhere.

I was just wondering if something like this had happened to any of you before.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
I don't use Reddit and I haven’t had any such approaches anywhere. I would be very suspicious of such an approach. It doesn't sound quite right to me.
 

cdxbow

Well-Known Member
I rarely post at this forum but I do so frequently at the military-related and defense-related subreddit at Reddit.

I take OPSEC very seriously, and as a result, never post anything about my own country but I do ask a ton of questions about military and defense related issues.

And very recently, I received an unsolicited message asking about my background -the guy introduced himself. I just feel a bit wary - and worried. What caught my eye was that he mentioned my age - and mentioned that he saw I posted my age elsewhere, and that raised my eyebrows, because while I did mentioned it, it was probably buried deep in my past comments somewhere.

I was just wondering if something like this had happened to any of you before.
Stay far, far away. It could be innocent but the chances are it is not. Reddit is a hive of grifters and malware
 

tonnyc

Well-Known Member
On the other hand, while I do not use Reddit, what the guy did would be what I did if I were introducing myself to a stranger in a forum I frequent. I would introduce myself, prove that I have been reading the posts for a while (that mention of age), and ask questions. It's as far as I can tell no different than introducing myself to a fellow college student or churchgoer or plastic model hobbyist.

I would suggest being polite and giving him a reply. An acknowledgement that you have received the message but out of privacy would rather not answer and that future private messages will be ignored should be sufficient.
 
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