Just by reading some of the experiences relayed by people on this forum, you can see why they are wary of being burned again. I’ve had some minor brushes and know people who have experienced the worst, but nothing myself like what I’ve heard from others or read here. I’m under not too many illusions, though.
If I go to any nation of the GCC I am guaranteed to dance in my underwear at an airport checkpoint in Doha and be accosted on the street by a dozen people asking if I’m Iranian or making comments about Iran during my visit (I’m not Iranian and︀ have no connection to Iran past an old ex-girlfriend). Many times going to the EU︁ recently, you just turn your face to the camera and they don’t even look at︂ your passport. I had that happen in Schiphol and Bologna most recently. I have stories︃ about Chinese surveillance from twenty years ago that might (or might not) astonish you. A︄ government of a somewhat developed nation, if interested, can find out quite a bit about︅ anyone without too much trouble.
I have good relationships with bankers, attorneys, and governments, try︆ to avoid making enemies, and go above and beyond in scrupulous adherence to laws which︇ I believe helps to prevent problems, but there is no guarantee even in legal frameworks︈ if you draw the wrong kind of attention.
There are some shady posts here, albeit︉ the worst are usually called out immediately for what they are, and some of the︊ things you read here seem strange, even though we in abstract know these things happen,︋ but the paranoia and wisdom are at least an even mix if not better.