How do you distinguish between legitimate Y!A users and 'trolls' or people just making it up?

The first thing I do when I see a strange question is look at the persons profile. I see what types of questions they ask. If this was their first question, I see if they have answered any questions, just to check if they give real answers or quick, two word ones. If their question is the only thing in their profile, it might be made up.

The second thing I notice is their grammar. Are they saying that they're 12, yet use large words? Or are they saying they're older, and skip out on commas, capital letters, etc. I also see how they space their question, if they have multiple lines with space in between, and then write after the "fake"thing has many lines with nothing, I think they could be trolling.

Most of the trolls on here have super weird and completely noticeable questions. If you're not sure, they could be real. If it's one of those "this is a one in a million, but it is possible" chances are it isn't real.

Sometimes things are just improbable.. I'm especially skeptical about the amount of multiple births that people seem to have on this site.

Some of the tell-tale signs for me are:

Spelling: someone who can't spell "pregnant" or says things like "twinz" or "babii" probably isn't being truthful.

Previous questions: the easiest sign is someone who asks what to wear to the 8th grade dance then asks a question stating what her husband wants to name their fifth daughter.

Errors: General inconsistencies with a story.. or things that are impossible such as being "1 week pregnant".

If a question sounds like it can't possibly be true, (Like the guy who wanted his daughter to have 8 babies at once just like the woman all over the news and was wondering how to do it) then you're probably right. Or anyone who asks "How is babby formed" - they are trolls. Sometimes it is hard to tell if people are serious or not. Like the 11 and 12 year olds who claim to be pregnant. The best you can do is answer their question as if they are serious.

I mostly don't worry about it. There are some that are pretty obvious, and I usually ignore them. Beyond that, I answer questions I find funny, interesting, or have an opinion on and I don't worry too much about who is asking it. I'm also to the point where I don't answer that many questions outside of those asked by my contacts. There could be trolls among them, but no one has bothered me so I don't care.

Good question. I've been looking at this one person who just added me, and I'm pretty sure her questions are total BS. For example, one of her questions talked around how she got an ultrasound in December and found out she was pregnant with twins (although she didn't specify how far along she was). Now she claims the babies are born and home with her. I'm sorry, I just don't think I buy that one! Whatever, I can't bother wasting my energy thinking about it.

You'll suss if they are making it up. The question either has too much detail, or to much ''he said she said''. Or the opposite. They could have to many big words lol

Also, in the baby name section, the trolls always tell their ''kids'' middle names or have had like 17 sets of twins in two weeks or something. And it's always the trolls who ask about twins names too. My old account got deleted cause of all the violations I was getting from ''mommy's'' !! You'll get that motherly instinct feeling going on if you spot a troll ...

I wonder this alot. I mean all the things that are right on the verge of being unbelievable, I don't really know, so silly trusting me, I just answer them as if they are true. I know things have happened in my life that are just about too crazy sounding to be true so I just give them the benefit of the doubt.

The only tell-tale signs I can think of is inconsistency in their story.

if a question is totally out there, i usually try to look at prevoius ?? they have asked. and if they seem pretty normal, i answer it. i haven't had too many trolls, b/c i can usually tell by the ? itself. you can also read their name. if it is some weird phrase or something, it usually stinks of troll.

everyone has crazy things going on in thier lives and i try to be open minded to beleiving it. usually also, i cannot remember when a person asks a similar question, before hand and some of the other answeres can, so you can tell by that also. if a person says something like calls them on their lie or mix up. then i usually don't answer i just go to the next one.

Spend at least two hours stalking the asker to determine their credibility. You can do so by checking out their profile, entire history of Q&A (including starred questions), and that of all their contacts.

The better stalker you become, the less you will fall prey to these heinous trolls.

If a question sounds like total BS, like no way in "h. e. double hockey sticks" can it be true...than i figure it's a troll and just ignore it.

If it sounds like it has a hint of truth of it (that's all it needs for me to answer) i'll be polite and answer seriously to the best of my ability. I can't stand how most people just assume things are false when they do sound llike they have a hint of truth to them. For these types of questions, i'll believe it to be true unless it's proven to be false.