Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Tha D.f4c3r/Archive

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Tha D.f4c3r

Tha D.f4c3r (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

01 November 2015[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets

All accounts are highly active at Shruthi Reddy and Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Shruthi Reddy. In addition, from the contributions of D.f4c3r (which reads like Defacer, so there's some obvious hint I'm missing) and Itsmeesathya, they are active in what could be termed as COI editing at the least as far as film and actors goes ("the subject has requested this"). I expect more accounts involved here, and there's also the possibility of being linked to this SPI. —SpacemanSpiff 15:02, 1 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]


05 November 2015[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets

All these accounts have Nithya Menen in common. I hadn't made the connection earlier but then Sourabh1996 continued the tradition of uploading copyvio images to Commons and then linking them here. Both were reverted and the images deleted on Commons. Then Saurabhanand96 came in to do the same with an image uploaded by blocked sock Priya.wom. B103N48 is older than Bbb23's check (so not sure if I'm right on this particular one), but not stale, but the edits are the same: compare [1] with [2]. —SpacemanSpiff 16:45, 5 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.


Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

  • Sourabh1996 (talk · contribs · count) and Sourabhanand96 (talk · contribs · count) are  Technically indistinguishable from one another and  Likely to the master. Blocked and tagged.
  • B103N48 (talk · contribs · count) is between Red X Unrelated and  Unlikely. SpacemanSpiff, I'm leaving this in checked status in case you want to block this account based on behavior. Whatever you decide, please close after. Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 18:01, 5 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • I'm not sure enough to block, I'll keep a look for now and see if anything comes up in the future. Also letting Dharmadhyaksha know about this so that he can take care of all the image uploads at Commons. Closing. —SpacemanSpiff 18:14, 5 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

18 November 2015[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets

There's usually a big collection, this is the only one I identified so far via this edit on a (now redirected) page created by the sockmaster. There's a huge COIN investigation on this sock farm now. Hopefully we can find the rest of the socks through CU. —SpacemanSpiff 16:43, 18 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

Cases filed under "Barney83Stinson"

16 August 2016[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

Barney83Stinson has created a few puff-laden articles on companies lately, like at Whacked Out Media and I can't help but notice he's received two barnstars recently, one from a ClayFace32 and another from ManBat94.

  • Clayface and Man-Bat are DC comic characters, so it's a bit of a coincidence that these two similarly-formatted accounts are sending sweet thoughts to this guy.
  • The capitalization of ManBat and ClayFace is unusual. Both are followed by numbers.
  • There are numerous areas of intersection between these accounts including three edits between Barney and ManBat exactly 128 days apart.
  • Barney has added Category:Whacked Out Media to a number of articles[3][4][5] typically marked as minor.
  • ManBat94 has added Category:Whacked Out Media to a number of articles[6][7][8] typically marked as minor.

I wonder if he's starting to feel pressure from my criticism of some of the puffery he's written, and he's trying to boost his own morale? It's also possible that these are co-workers or something. He's denied having a COI at Whacked Out Media, but I'm not quite buying it. Anyhow, I'd appreciate a CU look if one can be spared. Thanks! Cyphoidbomb (talk) 04:59, 16 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

  • Stinson and Clayface are resoundingly  Confirmed. ManBat94 is  Confirmed to the prior accounts but a bit less resoundingly. NativeForeigner Talk 06:48, 16 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks NativeForeigner - Socks indeffed, master blocked 2 weeks. Socks tagged. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 16:25, 16 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

18 August 2016[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

A continuation of a previous investigation, KittenLynch just added a ton of credits to Abhishek Pictures, an article that was edited mostly by Barney83Stinson and his socks. There's only been one edit from KittenLynch, but the sheer size of the table they contributed, as well as having the relatively obscure film distributor article in common, makes it a very curious account. Thanks! Cyphoidbomb (talk) 21:48, 18 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Update: More edits have been made by the KittenLynch account and now there are several intersections with previously IDd socks, including at Whacked Out Media. I'd like to see what happens with them in the next few days before closing. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 18:37, 23 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Update: User GreenLanternCorps has appeared at Whacked Out Media. Name shares thematic DC Universe similarity with ManBat and ClayFace. User employs "Infography" summary indicated below, which could very well just be the result of the sock knowing that there is this SPI open. His edit summary here is obvious bullshit. "First Edit. Adding citation link. Random article. Thank you wikipedia." Indeffing as duck. Closing this SPI for now. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 18:13, 25 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

  • Tunerautotune (an SPA) tried to remove a maintenance tag on Pallak Lalwani [9] (hours after article creation). The sockmaster has also attempted to remove tags. [10]. This is ducky behaviour.
  • Carlos marc may be worth investigating. The account is still active and had been adding images (with unclear permissions) to certain articles of Indian Telegu movie stars, the same area sockmaster was working on. They also created Mehreen Pirzada with a bunch of details[11] which indicate a close connection with the subject. It is interesting that File:Mehreen_Pirzada_Actress.jpeg says "Author:Sonu, Whacked Out Media". It seems this actress or the movie house engaged "Whacked Out Media" to promote them. --Lemongirl942 (talk) 02:25, 25 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for adding your info, LG. I can see why you'd think they're all the same, based on the Pallak Lalwani edit history. My thoughts:
  • Tunerautotune only made 3 edits in March, so there's not a whole lot to link him other than the edits at Lalwani, and I would guess that his CU data might be stale by now.
  • Carlos marc has several intersections with other socks, but hasn't edited Abishek Pictures or Whacked Out Media yet. He just started editing again after about 20 days of absence, so maybe keeping an eye on him is wise. Carlos marc tends to mark all his edits as minor, which is something Barney did, but Barney didn't really use edit summaries, where Carlos marc tends to note which section he edited, and in many cases he has used "Infography",[12][13][14] to describe edits to the infobox. That's a weird choice of wording.
  • Pallak Lalwani and Pragya Jaiswal should probably be watchlisted as they both seem attractive to these accounts.
Given the slight differences between the accounts' behaviors, it's possible that this is a team of people rather than just one guy. NativeForeigner, do you have any input on how to proceed? Thanks all, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 03:13, 25 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

  •  Likely, although impossible to be definitive given nature of networks they are on. NativeForeigner Talk 00:55, 19 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
    • Upgraded to  Confirmed &  1.75x amplified ultimate quack of ultimate destiny NativeForeigner Talk 02:54, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Nice! Thanks for looking again, Native. I've indeffed and tagged KittenLynch and have upgraded Barney83Stinson's block to indef, with sockmaster tag. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 03:12, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, before I close, I know that Lemongirl1942 might have had some other accounts she suspected of being related to this group. Lemon, if you do, could you please drop a note in the "Comments from other users" section above? Otherwise I'll just close this in a day or so. Regards, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 03:15, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Deal with it from a behavior/meatpuppet/disruptive editing/promotional editing perspective. There is very little useful from a technical perspective given the nature of the networks. NativeForeigner Talk 05:24, 25 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]
OK. I don't think there's enough to block Tunerautotune and Carlos marc should be watched, but I'll leave him alone for now. Indeffing GreenLanternCorps as detailed above. Closing SPI. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 18:13, 25 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

08 September 2016[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

  • here NutJob12 is hawking Whacked Out Media again. Now he's got Mango Music on the agenda too.
  • ManBat94 and Barney83Stinson also edited Bruce Lee - The Fighter semi-recently.
  • RorchachJournal (note the comic book theme with Rorchach--one of the Watchmen) converted Shirish Saravanan from a redirect back to an article. This was an article created by Barney83Stinson. Quack. He took the bait.
  • NutJob12 has several articles in common with Barney, and RorchachJournal intersects at Mango Music with NutJob and at Shirish Saravanan with Barney. Rorchach has only made six edits, so this is telling. NutJob has made under 50.

Checking for sleepers would be appreciated. I also want to note that NutJob tossed a barnstar out to Prakash Gollapalli007 for his work on Telugu Cinema, but Prakash didn't edit that article as far as I can tell. It is documented in the archive that Barney's socks/meatpuppets did the same thing to him. Might not be anything, though. One of the users who received barnstars is one of our trusted regulars. Thanks, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 07:07, 8 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

@Ponyo: Whoops! I filled out the report using the Sockpuppet pull-down in Twinkle, which I believe doesn't allow you to enter multiple sockpuppets. I meant to add it manually in the report, but forgot. Thanks for your hard work on this per usual. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 22:24, 8 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Cases filed under "Proudpurian"

27 March 2018[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]


From this thread on my talk by GSS-1987. The first five socks are  Confirmed to each other and the other two are  Likely or possible meatpuppets. The connection to the master is behavioral which is UPE socks promoting Indian singers and actors. This case is possibly connected to Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Virasatgaur/Archive. Blocked.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 12:08, 27 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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@Berean Hunter: can you please take a look at user Murz97 (appears to be related) uploaded this image as own work which later used by Proudpurian in his article. Thank you – GSS (talk|c|em) 12:36, 27 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Murz97 is a UA match and close IP to Priyarastogi9393 making him possible to Rohanpednekar38. Meat is possible.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 12:50, 27 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for looking at it. GSS (talk|c|em) 13:27, 27 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

06 April 2018[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

Recreation of Chal Mohan Ranga and no edits outside this topic. The article was earlier created in mainspace by Pulkahulka (talk · contribs) a day after an AfC submission for Draft:Chal Mohan Ranga was declined. GSS (talk|c|em) 04:18, 6 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

23 May 2018[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

Yet another attempt to create Musskan Sethi and Uma Neha under S Uma Neha. GSS (talk|c|em) 11:54, 23 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Adding 78.95.63.17 who is constantly removing speedy deletion notice from Musskan Sethi‎. GSS (talk|c|em) 14:38, 23 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Not understanding the purpose but Naturepower143 created User:Raj081238/Uma Neha after I moved S Uma Neha to draftspace Draft:S Uma Neha. GSS (talk|c|em) 11:31, 24 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

28 July 2018[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]


These are a group from whackedout.in that are promoting the Indian film industry. See UTRS #22155 for UPE meat admission. See this archived COIN post by SpacemanSpiff.

These other two cases are linked not only by behavior but also by the technical evidence in the CU logs which supports this. These three cases should be merged:

Comments by other users[edit]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.


Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

Nomiyar is  Confirmed to Safynin. Moiz Sd is  Likely so I have blocked. AR767 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) is  Possible so  Behavioural evidence needs evaluation.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 13:41, 28 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Bbb23 and Berean Hunter: the servers are puking up a storm right now so I'm giving up for the time being. I've just finished retagging all of the previously tagged accounts with the updated master, leaving the "status" as it was previously. Let me know what changes should be made and I'll be back to take care of it later. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 15:50, 10 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) @Ivanvector: Nothing would be what I want, but the best would be the one that says they are CU-confirmed to Proudpurian and a suspected sock of Tha D.f4c3r (what a miserable username, Proudpurian was much easier).--Bbb23 (talk) 15:53, 10 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@Bbb23 and Berean Hunter: alright, I think I've done it. Let me know if anything is still amiss. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 15:36, 13 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@Ivanvector: I looked only at the accounts for which I made findings. I adjusted Crispgatoglitz; the others are good.--Bbb23 (talk) 15:39, 13 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Nothing amiss from what I see. Thank you, Ivan.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 16:31, 13 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

19 September 2018[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

All three suspected users were registered last week and immediately start editing articles created by their previous sock Crispgatoglitz (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). Requesting CU but I'm not sure if it will be helpful since they are using a mobile device. GSS (talk|c|em) 09:14, 19 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

05 February 2019[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

SPA with no edits outside recreating Khamakha. GSS (talk|c|em) 10:08, 5 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.


Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

 Blocked and tagged.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 15:46, 19 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

15 December 2019[edit]

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

I was poking around in this article edit history when I noticed an old account Subrata99 had been blocked as a sock of Proudpurian, someone who was originally blocked for undisclosed paid editing. Immediately following their edits in the article history I saw Mr. Subrata Mandal and they're clearly the same Subrata based on their user page info, so  Looks like a duck to me on that. Subrata99 was a CU identified sock of Tha D.f4c3r, who has a history of promotional editing.

However, I also noticed that Mr. Subrata Mandal edited another editor's user page. That editor was CU-blocked by Bbb23 a while back. It's possible that was yet another sock, and this guy has several accounts going. I'm going to block the Mr. Subrata Mandal account, and I'll leave it to someone else to figure out if a sleeper check is worth a look. Mr. Subrata Mandal hasn't made many edits recently. Thanks, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 13:53, 15 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

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