Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Αθλητικά/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets

 * ( original case name)

I have come across a number of edits that seem to resemble previous activity by the banned user Αθλητικά. Derzki's interests are concentrated on Greek politics and football with an emphasis on the Greek team of PAOK and political party Greeks for the Fatherland. Additional proof can be found in the editing of Greek opinion polls which was the same editing pattern observed by Αθλητικά, who was banned indefinitely for disruptive editing in the same articles. Poor use of English by both accounts should be highlighted too. NikolaosFanaris (talk) 19:32, 10 April 2022 (UTC) NikolaosFanaris (talk) 19:32, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * This is pretty ducky. Derzki was created three days after Αθλητικά's first block. For two accounts with just a few hundred edits each, the overlap in articles they've edited is remarkable. Their use of edit summaries is similar, and their global editing profiles on meta are also very similar. I see that Derzki is blocked over on elwiki for edit warring, which is what got Αθλητικά blocked over here the first time around. Blocking, tagging as suspected. Closing.  Girth Summit  (blether)  13:03, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
Same obsession with Greek football and political polling [1 ], but most importantly the far-right Greeks for the Fatherland [2 ], which is repeatedly vandalised by the same user. This is a similar pattern previously adopted by banned user Αθλητικά [3 ], who was recently blocked for using another sockpuppet Derzki [4 ]. Παραγάδι became active only a few days after Derzki was banned. I also suspect some of the threats (now hidden [5 ]) coming from IP address 109.242.157.97 could be related to Παραγάδι too, so it might be worth checking them. NikolaosFanaris (talk) 20:38, 21 April 2022 (UTC) NikolaosFanaris (talk) 20:38, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * is ✅ to, and is now blocked. No comment on the IP.  Girth Summit  (blether)  22:56, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I was going to block the IP, but I see it's already blocked. For a shorter time than I would have, but let's see how this works.  If the problems start up again after the current block expires, ping me.  Closing. -- RoySmith (talk) 23:31, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
Proforma report. New account appeared and immediately started reinstating some of the last sock's edits to political articles. CU is very likely to previous sock, and ✅ to. Looks like they were trying to split out accounts to have their sports edits come from a different account than their politics ones. Both now blocked and tagged. Girth Summit  (blether) 11:57, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Closing.  Girth Summit  (blether)  12:00, 22 April 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets

 * ( original case name)

Same user again as their previous accounts have been blocked indefinitely. They just returned to WP as they previously did with a new account that edits primarily Greek football and politics-related pages [1 ]. This time I supect it's two new accounts, including Idkmwgn, whose first edit was in Greeks for the Fatherland [2 ]. NikolaosFanaris (talk) 13:59, 29 April 2022 (UTC) NikolaosFanaris (talk) 13:59, 29 April 2022 (UTC)

Further to my request yesterday, my talk and user pages are now getting vandalised by the reported user [1 ] [2 ]. NikolaosFanaris (talk) 09:18, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

You are a liar and they harass an innocent person without even having denials. Whether or not I have common processes can be coincidental only with real processing (such as if you can prove with documents who is hiding behind everyone's keyboards only then). You can not judge a person only by coincidences and accusations, this is illegal and I will move legally if needed in the courts. You are probably a small child and you think that Wikipedia is a toy, if your parents do not comply with you, I will go to court to see if you can sell magic there. --Opinion Poll (talk) 09:38, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - please merge to WP:Sockpuppet investigations/Αθλητικά. Thanks, Spicy (talk) 15:15, 29 April 2022 (UTC)
 * -  Girth Summit  (blether)  09:57, 30 April 2022 (UTC)
 * is ✅ to the last batch of socks, and looks like a sleeper - I will block both of these.
 * is : they geolocate to the same place, but there are technical differences which give me pause. With only a single edit, I'm not confident enough that this is the same person; if they continue editing in a similar vein, please re-report and we can take another look with more evidence to go on. Girth Summit  (blether)  10:10, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
New user created right after Opinion Poll was blocked indefinitely. Demonstrates a similar interest in politics with contributions to opinion polling and more speficially Greeks for the Fatherland [1 ]. The user became active right after an anonymous IP was blocked from editing earlier today after days of continuous vandalism [2 ], which was definitely used by Αθλητικά. Another user named Alexkkkkk was created yesterday and started at edit-warring Greeks for the Fatherland too [3 ]. I am 99% they are all the same user. NikolaosFanaris (talk) 23:03, 7 May 2022 (UTC) NikolaosFanaris (talk) 23:03, 7 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Girth Summit, may I ask you to check one more brand new possible sock? It appeared earlier today and uses a suspicious name to edit the same articles as Λευτέρης Πανούσης; It's Δήμος Αθηναίων. The name of the account literally translates to Municipality of Athens, which aims to give the impression that the account represents the organisation. Its first edit was 2022–23 Super League Greece, same as many other sockpuppets previously created by Αθλητικά. Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks in advance for your help! NikolaosFanaris (talk) 17:22, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * is ✅ to and other socks in the archive - blocked, tagged as proven. Alexkkkkk is, in the sense that they geolocate to the same city, but they're on a different IP range - behavioural evaluation would be needed to make the connection there.   Girth Summit  (blether)  14:34, 8 May 2022 (UTC)
 * geolocates to the same city as previous socks, but looks to be on a new IP range (also same city as Alexkkkkk, but a different range). I do find it very curious that a brand new account would immediately create a template about a subject that these blocked accounts are interested in, but I'll leave it to someone else to make a behavioural determination. Girth Summit  (blether)  17:43, 9 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Blocked given behavioural similarity and  this removal of a comment at this SPI.  firefly  ( t · c ) 10:10, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
Similar edits to recent sock, e.g. moving the Yanis Varoufakis article to Gianis Varoufakis, edits at Opinion polling for the next Greek legislative election etc. Number   5  7  14:48, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
I support the accusations. I suspected an IP for sockpuppeting and wanted to report them, but somehow fell onto a Greek username in the sockpuppets page, and turned out to be that user.

IPs used by the user:
 * User:91.140.5.174 (not yet banned)
 * User:109.242.213.53 (banned for about 20 days to go, but not yet permanently banned)
 * User:79.107.246.212 (not yet banned)

Reasoning: The second IP has admitted that they are the first IP here "you are watching me in Wikipedia in everything I do", and it is quite obvious by making the same edits in several page, such as this erroneous edit in 2022–23 Super League Greece. The third IP went on to make the same edit here, along with various other edits. It should be noted that the third IP has been making several unconstructive/vandalism edits, such as this (goal difference is not the 1st tie criterion in this competition for over 30 years now, maybe even more), this (has put goal difference as a tiebreaker when it is not, changing erroneously the standings for AEK and Panathinaikos, resulting in their stats not matching their actual results, just in order to justify the "goal difference". The user also changed 13th and 14th place, as Levadiakos was relegated by head to head against OFI, read this article as evidence that OFI stayed in the division. Levadiakos was NOT relegated for debts). Interestingly the same obsession for "goal difference" is followed by User:Παπανδρέου_Ανδρέας, as can be seen in this edit, in the exact same outdated article. Similar interests of User:Παπανδρέου_Ανδρέας and User:79.107.246.212 exist, as they both change pages like 2022–23 Super League Greece, while if we assume that User:79.107.246.212 is also User:91.140.5.174, we can see an obsession for Greek sports and politics that is very common amongst all accounts of the original User:Αθλητικά user. Lastly, the first IP and User:Αθλητικά have both used legal threats and abusive language, here and here, with very similar vocabulary (I am still waiting for that lawsuit to arrive by the way). -SteliosGR (talk) 00:52, 26 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Noting that the first IP and the third IP both blanked my messages from their talk pages, which appears to be a common practice of that user. -SteliosGR (talk) 18:09, 26 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm quite familiar with this sockmaster. There isn't much point blocking IPs unless they are currently actively editing through them, they hop about different IPs quite readily. 91.140.5.174 hasn't edited for a couple of weeks, so they've moved on from that one; 79.107.246.212 edited once earlier today, but I expect they'll have moved on from that already. If you see any more edits from it, let us know. Cheers Girth Summit  (blether)  18:22, 26 October 2022 (UTC)


 * appears to be an active one, as does . Cheers, Number   5  7  20:03, 27 October 2022 (UTC)


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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * I ran some checks. Everything is stale, but based on some hints in the historical CU logs,  is possible.  On the other hand, "A bunch of people in Greece who are interested in Greek politics" is equally likely.  In other words,  -- RoySmith (talk) 18:23, 19 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I've taken a look, and I don't have any doubts that this is the same person. Feel free to ping me an e-mail,, if you want to discuss. Blocking, tagging as proven.  Girth Summit  (blether)  11:47, 26 October 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
This edit was made by the user, as was made here by other confirmed sockpuppets of this well-known banned user. The IP matches the region Central Macedonia, as do all other past IP socks that this banned user has been using. I was waiting for such an edit by a sockpuppet from this user, as I can finally submit a request to permanently semi-protect this page and 2022–23 Super League Greece page. -Tranquill Komnin (talk) 16:53, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Additionally, this edit shows that this user again changed the criteria to Goal Difference, as has erroneously done in the past and can be seen and explained in detail under "Comments by other users" here. -Tranquill Komnin (talk) 17:08, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Closing without action - the IP hasn't edited for three days, this user will have moved on.  Girth Summit  (blether)  16:27, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
Vandalism in articles such as here and obsession with both Greek elections and football, along with minor edits in favor of Thessaloniki clubs. The IP matches the region Central Macedonia, as has happened multiple times in the past with other socks from the same well-known banned user. Only 10 edits but they are enough to tell. Business as usual from this user, I'll be here to point stuff out as usual as well. Tranquill Komnin (talk) 22:53, 4 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Probably this edit is the best moment in this entire saga (including the archive); the user is talking to their own self when mentioning @Αθλητικά. Literally a gem in the chaos. Tranquill Komnin (talk) 23:03, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * The IP hasn't edited in a week. Closing. Bbb23 (talk) 23:44, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
What is well-known for User:Αθλητικά is that they constantly make subtle vandalism edits in football pages, alongside edits that concern elections, including most of the times a sandbox page which has erroneous election results. Other edits are very rarely spotted. User:Μπαλαδόφατσα fits all these three criteria, such as this edit, this edit, and this edit. Several edits of User:Αθλητικά were also in favor of Thessaloniki teams and in the same style as the last edit, which erroneously put PAOK as first in the 17th matchday, which was also true. Several edits also were concerning elections, such as this edit, alongside a sandbox which includes several erroneous election results, similar to the sandbox pages of several User:Αθλητικά users in the past. The user also removed a user talk message from their profile, by this edit, which states (in Greek) that this user is a well-known troll and has constantly been making vandalism edits for years. It is more than obvious that this is User:Αθλητικά and the earlier this stops, the better. Additionally, if this user makes an IP, then we would be forced to block (again, as we did with 2022–23 Super League Greece page) to extended protect the page. Nevechear (talk) 12:38, 10 March 2024 (UTC)

Comments by other users

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

I do have quite a few similarities as I can see with this user however the similarities I have does not mean we are the same person. Anyone who has proof that I am the same person as the user in question can submit it but without proof it is unfair to accuse me.--Μπαλαδόφατσα (talk) 15:23, 10 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Hello,
 * There are two striking similarities that I can give. I could provide more intel if needed as supplementary, but this should be enough.
 * Erroneously editing the positions by round:
 * This edit is from an IP sock.
 * This edit is from Μπαλαδόφατσα.
 * Both are subtle vandalism - erroneously tampering with the league table in favor of Aris and PAOK (both Thessaloniki teams).
 * Both the IP sock and this user are editing similar politics and Greek football pages, with similar comments:
 * This edit is from an IP sock, claiming "Enough with your party manifesto vandalism".
 * This edit is from Μπαλαδόφατσα, claiming "Enough with the trolling IPs". This is a vandalism edit, removing the whole results board from Superleague Greece.
 * Also, the sandbox of Μπαλαδόφατσα contains erroneous election results and sports information:
 * as can be seen here.
 * The sandbox page of the sockmaster can be found here, also containing erroneous election results and sports information:
 * sandbox page of sockmaster.
 * This should be obvious, by checking the other sockmaster investigations in the archive. Nevechear (talk) 18:24, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * -, you have provided many diffs of Μπαλαδόφατσα's edits, but you have provided no comparison diffs of blocked socks' behavior. Please provide side-by-side diffs (Μπαλαδόφατσα and a sock) demonstrating behavioral similarity. Bbb23 (talk) 15:39, 10 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The behavioral evidence alone is strong enough to warrant a block and tag. The Wordsmith Talk to me 00:37, 5 April 2024 (UTC)