Behavior patterns
Pushy about personal details early
Before you've settled on a first name, they want your full name, where you live, where you work, your birthday, your kids' names. It can feel like interest. It's also everything needed to guess a password, answer a security question, or find you.
What it looks like
- A rapid-fire list of questions that feels like a form.
- Interest in your finances: do you own your home, what do you do, are you the one who handles the money.
- Asking for your address to 'send a gift'.
- Getting the details, then going quiet.
Why does a stranger want your address, birthday, or employer?
Personal details have value on their own, and they make every later step easier: a more convincing story, a targeted text, an account takeover, a visit. Because the questions come dressed as getting to know you, refusing feels cold. Genuine interest is patient. Data collection is in a hurry.
What to do
- Share slowly. Nobody needs your address, employer, or date of birth in week one.
- Never share answers to security-style questions: first pet, mother's maiden name, first school.
- If you've shared a lot and something feels off, change passwords and turn on two-step verification.
- Look up their number here and add what happened.
More in the tips: Dating and new online friends.
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