He was an old friend who stood up for me in school when I was facing harassment. He had a tough persona, but he spoke softly to me and was gentle with me. That was in 2006. I messaged him on Facebook a month ago, nothing too detailed, just asking him if he was at [school] in 2006. To be specific, the exact message was “hey, were you ever at [school I went to] in 2006?”. I have a picture of my face as my profile picture, and my intention was just to re-connect with old friends or maybe to just thank him for what he did. That day, I was being harassed so badly that I was in tears. I’d been bullied a lot, and he was someone I looked up to. Today, his profile in my Chats list just says “Facebook user” and how he’s not available on messenger. My sister can’t find him on Facebook either.
Probably took it as fishing. Asking a very obvious personally identifiable question is how many scammers try to break the ice with social engineering. Ask questions that help the scammer further identify their target or assets of the target.
A question that anyone should already know the answer to isn’t a great idea, though. If it is you, you should already know if you went to school with them. If it’s not you, it’s still an odd question, because it should be verifiable already on their profile? Either way, the generic question really isn’t sending, “hey I remember and want to connect with you” vibes, IMO. It’s giving, “hey I recently got in to MLMs” vibes.
pyrinix@kbin.melroy.org 1 hour ago
People change overtime. What you find important in this post, may very well not be as important to them today. I mean, I've asked former friends before in the past about certain events. A lot of the time I get mixed answers or I'm told that it doesn't matter anymore. Because it didn't and asking those questions came off as incredibly odd to even ask.
Because things do stop mattering to some people overtime. They might've undergone so many changes that even recognizing you may be difficult. They might've only done one thing in the past and just simply forgot about it or didn't care enough for it to matter later.
I know if I was asked random questions such as that, I'd be more concerned as to whether or not it'd be relevant to what's going on with me today, not then.