Undesirable messages

Undesirable messages are something we all experience at some point in life. They may come via email, phone or social media. Social media platforms, in particular, are quite prone to this sort of message, especially Facebook, but you don’t expect to receive undesirable messages on LinkedIn, however, it does happen.

LinkedIn is a quite reputable platform. Those who use it want to showcase their professional skills and use it for professional purposes only. That is what most of us believe. Some time ago, I read a comment of a LinkedIn user complaining about receiving undesirable messages on LinkedIn. I was quite surprised and so was this person, who also had never thought it could happen. In the last 2 weeks, it has been happening to me.

How does it happen

In my case, it started with a request to be part of my network. At first, it looked like a perfectly normal profile, so I accepted it. Then I received a private message and that’s when I realised what it was. The person even apologises for using LinkedIn as a dating platform. I didn’t reply and I blocked that user straight away.

Two days later, another request, from another person. The same situation, profile looked normal and I accepted it. A few seconds later, the person started chatting with me. The chat was ridiculous, to say the least. He asked my name and where I was from. All that information is provided on my profile. The next day a third person. But this time I could see it was going to be the same thing.

What it may be

A lot of ideas come to mind as to what these messages may be about. At first, they may look like another case of harassment on social media. However, it may be something very different. These may be a typical catfish scam. A catfish scam is when someone creates a false identity for themselves on a social media platform with the purpose of abusing, deceiving or defrauding victims. The most common type of scam is romantic catfish. Where the criminal creates a profile to attract victims and get them to fall in love with them, so they can start asking them for money. Lots of innocent victims have fallen for this type of scam. Others have had their identity stolen and used in this type of scam.

We must be aware of this, and if we believe we have been targeted for one of these criminals, we should report them to the social media platform where it happened and if it persists, we should contact police.