[jojojaf]

Wow ok that is pretty scary. From what I understand credit scores are pretty strictly regulated and this definitely needs to be too.

Is there some way for me to run my IP through a bot detection so I can check if what I'm doing is making a difference?

[LinuxBender]

Is there some way for me to run my IP through a bot detection so I can check if what I'm doing is making a difference?

Not really. Each company will have their own appliances. There is not a single source of trusted truth AFAIK. Some vendor devices may report back to their vendor but there are multiple vendors and I doubt any of them would expose a lookup tool given that malicious people could test which of their bots to use.

[jojojaf]

Oh I see, that makes sense.

Just to check I understand correctly, I need to clear my caches on any internet apps I use like the browser and YouTube etc., and I will also clear the cookies on my browser. Then I'll ring my ISP and ask for a new IP address, and then I'll repeat the cache clearing. Did I miss anything?

I tried to search for 'bot profiling' so I could try and read a bit more about this but I didn't really find too much of interest so far

[LinuxBender]

You probably won't need to ring your ISP unless you are unable to request a new IP through your router. If its a consumer router then there may be a UI that allows you to "release" and "renew" your IP on the WAN interface, maybe. You may end up with the same IP. Google your router make and model to get more details. You've got everything else right.

[jojojaf]

Oh I didn't realise I could just do that myself.

Well, thank you so much for all of your help