Question regarding decreasing a minor factions influence

[Red Fox Four]

According to the wiki page in the article about Influence it states:

"For those wanting to get a minority faction into power there's a valid strategy to decrease the influence of the leading faction by performing any actions from the following list:

Completing a mission's alternate option given through Unidentified Signal Sources"

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Influence

The wiki doesn't say so I am assuming at this point that this means taking a mission from the controlling faction and then doing the alternate option from those guys who hail you with that "Glad I found you" or something message, then want you to drop out of supercruise with them.

How consistently does that happen ?

Every mission or do you risk taking a mission and then have to complete or abandon it (the latter which might impose fines as well). Also abandoning missions doesn't affect influence anyways.

I wouldn't using this method, ontop of doing missions out of the stations owned by the faction I am backing, but if it is really inconsistent whether or not you get the alternate option then I'm not really sure this is such a viable option for undermining the influence of other factions.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…The wiki doesn't say so I am assuming at this point that this means taking a mission from the controlling faction and then doing the alternate option from those guys who hail you with that "Glad I found you" or something message, then want you to drop out of supercruise with them.
…

I think those NPCs hailing you in SC got removed in a patch long ago when we got the "mission critical alert" system.

 

[the100thmonkey]

In the last six months or so, I've only seen an alternate mission wrinkle with passenger missions - usually an offer to sell your passengers into slavery.

 

[Hexcaliber]

I am still seeing the alternate mission objective pop up since 3.0, perhaps twice now since the patch dropped, could be more, I always delete the random npc mission offers they are rarely worth the effort.

 

[Red Fox Four]

I am still seeing the alternate mission objective pop up since 3.0, perhaps twice now since the patch dropped, could be more, I always delete the random npc mission offers they are rarely worth the effort.

I just want to NOT finish the mission I picked up for the controlling minor faction.

So I want to trigger the alternate missions somehow and do them to make the influence of the controlling faction go down so my faction can take over the system

So it's not about the rewards as much as the influence part of it.