When I was a Samaritan volunteer, it was not uncommon for idiots to waste valuable time spinning fiction for their own perverse amusement.
But the golden rule always was - Treat every Caller and Visitor seriously. Better to be taken in, than doubt a genuine story.
I tend to adopt the same approach on here.
If someone is winding me up for their own reasons, it doesn't take time off my life to give them a few minutes to craft a response.
If it's bogus, I'm unlikely to find out, if it helps, great, but either way, a response is better use of time than 'investigating' a possible history and querying it on here.
If someone is asking several times, does it hurt to answer?
Not really, maybe they just need the comfort of strangers, and I would not like to be someone who denies it.
It could be me one day ...