The summary is: if you use someone’s VPN, Tor, etc. you’re just setting yourself up. There is no privacy, and if you act like you want privacy, they’re going to pay more attention to you.

That's what they want you to think.

I would assume that if they were astroturfing, they would be smart enough to use more than one account. Given that, I'm inclined to believe that you are part of an astroturfing campaign.