6
$\begingroup$

I was trying to answer this question. I tried multiple times to submit an answer (which eventually turned into a comment). The site informs me that "An error occurred submitting the answer.", so I try refreshing the page. I then try discarding the draft, at which point the site takes me to a page, which says:

Suspicious Request

Sorry, your request could not be completed because it looked suspicious. If you meant to perform an action on Mathematics Stack Exchange, please return to the previous page and try again.

which I did, only to find the same problems. What's going on here?

$\endgroup$
4
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ This is suspicious... $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 8:54
  • $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila As a moderator, do you get notified of these things? Does the site show its working when it does this? $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 9:28
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I don't see anything suspicious, but I might not be as familiar as other moderators might be. Let's wait for their input on the matter. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 9:42
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Perhaps the system is confusing you with the nefarious Theo Bandit. $\endgroup$
    – user296602
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 15:07

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

If you do not encounter this often, it is likely an isolate instance due to some harmless incidence with your computer, the internet-connection or the server.

The site gives this error if it encounters something unusual.

See for example Suspicious login request when using Google id

In your instance it could have been that at first something lagged for some reason, so you tried multiple actions that then kicked in and this was "suspicious."

If it was a unique event for you, I'd ignore it. It is likely impossible to find out what exactly it was and does not have any consequences beyond the immediate inconvenience caused for you.

If it happens on a regular basis, that'd be a different situation.

$\endgroup$
4
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I tried it again, and it worked. Thank you for your help! I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't being mistakenly flagged for reputation fraud, as some kind of automated script, or something similar in that vein that could come back to bite me later. Thanks again! $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 12:18
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Theo: What do you mean "mistakenly"? ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 14:03
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ It's happening again, this time to this question (it passed; I answered the question). It doesn't seem to happen from my home computer, only from my uni computer. Is there anything I can do about this? $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Sep 6, 2018 at 2:52
  • $\begingroup$ @TheoBendit sorry about that. I cannot offer any specific advice. A thing to try is to change the browser, if you can. Personally I do not know enough about the technical aspects involved to offer any good advice. It could also be an idea to ask IT staff at your university. In the one answer linked it was the network (IP changes that caused the issue). If not you could post on the main meta with more technical details. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Commented Sep 6, 2018 at 16:33

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .