Social media, despite its perks, comes with various baggage.
Doxing (or Doxxing) is one of those problems on social media that can affect not only your mental health but also your peace of mind.
So, what does doxing mean on Discord?
Doxing is an act whereby someone reveals your private information online, like, name, address, IP address, workplace, or other financial or personal information, without your consent. The offender uses multiple techniques to get the victim’s private information from them and then uses it to shame, harass or coerce the victim. The problem is also prevalent in Discord, like any other social media.
Be mindful of what your share and whom you trust online. Keep reading to learn more about doxing, how someone can manipulate you to give up your personal information, and what you can do to avoid getting doxed.
What Is Doxing on Discord?
Doxing is an online practice whereby the predator seeks victims to gather their personal information through various means.
Then, they make this information public without the victim’s consent to harass, bully, troll, coerce, or publicly shame them.
Since Discord is one of the most loved places for gamers, it is the place where gamers can chat with their friends or other like-minded people.
Besides, you can live stream your game and involve in fun little activities. Over the years, Discord’s popularity surged as it became a bustling place to chat with people of common interests.
Unfortunately, with rising popularity, various malicious activities also emerged here, and doxing is one of them. A person intending to dox you will approach you to seek more private information related to you through various means.
They may start by chatting with you on text or voice channels on any server and become your friends to send you direct messages.
They can build your profile with the information they access, like your name, home address, phone number, financial or banking information, personal pictures, where you work, etc.
These predators then post this private information publicly to expose you without your consent.
Doxing is a cybercrime. The idea is to harass, bully, troll, or even blackmail the victim. Some people might want to shame others publicly and thus try to steal their identity.
On Discord, someone may dox you to reveal your true identity if you operate anonymously for privacy reasons.
Doxing started in the 1990s, predominately among hackers to hack the personal information of rivals. The word is generated from the shorter version of documents or docs. Gradually, it made waves outside the hacking culture and became a menace for everyday social media users.
How Can Someone Dox You on Discord?
There are various means people can employ to dox anyone on Discord. Some of these are as follows:
- Phishing — here, the doxxer might send harmless links to you on servers or private chats. When you click on them, you will be redirected to a link outside Discord, where the predator can steal your information, including your IP address.
- Manipulation — a doxxer may manipulate you by befriending you to give up your personal information to them by gaining your trust.
- Stalk — someone might stalk you on every social media to collect your data to dox you.
- Force — in extreme cases, a doxxer can force the victim to give up their information by harassing or even blackmailing them.
Some doxxers have only one ulterior motive: to take revenge on the victim for something they did by publicly shaming them. Generally, politicians and celebrities are the biggest victims of doxing.
How To Prevent Getting Doxxed on Discord?
Follow these recommendations to prevent getting doxxed on Discord:
- Do not give away your personal information to unknown people.
- Avoid clicking on links or filling out online forms.
- Always enable two-factor authentication on all your social media, including Discord.
- You can mask your IP address using VPN.
- Report to Discord if you fear someone is fishy.
Final Thoughts
Doxxing can be a serious problem if you do not tread carefully on social media. Since Discord is garnering the crowd’s attention, so doxing instances are widespread on this platform.
Make sure not to indulge with strangers deeply that you give away your personal information. Also, avoid clicking on suspicious links.
Be mindful and do not leave your footprints on social media for others to track easily.
Be careful and enjoy a peaceful time with people you trust.
