Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/8MA8/Archive

Evidence submitted by Laveol
Both editors make similar edits on the article Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising ( and ). User:Micoapostolov ‎ has been blocked just a few days ago for edit-warring on the very same article. What's more striking is that the alleged sockpuppet created an article about the person Mico Apostolov. Note that the sockpuppeteer already created such an article back in December and it got speedy deleted. Editors explained the situation and he understood that he was not allowed to create and contribute to an article on himself. So he created a sock to do the job (this time not using his original name). The article is at AFD now (Articles for deletion/Mico Apostolov) and the new editor seems really determined to keep it.  L a v e o l  T 16:01, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I uploaded the case using Twinkle and it seems to had gone slightly wrong. the actual sockpuppetter is MicoApostolov. Please, notify me if it's a problem. -- L a v e o l  T 16:40, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Some updates: User:8MA8 has asked some editors to help him change the articles like Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, IMRO etc, without him getting blocked again ( and ). The fact of the matter is that this user has only edited one of those pages (Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising) and the rest (including those hiding behind the "etc") have been edited by User:Micoapostolov.-- L a v e o l  T 22:11, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

Dear Laveol, Please do not presume that both user accounts are of the same person. I do not have such intent, even though we might share some interest as you probably share with your Bulgarian friends. Thus, I would like to urge you to stay professional avoiding sabotage of newly-arrived contributors that might not share your point of view. Indeed, wikipedia has to be balanced source of information. Thank you very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 8MA8 (talk • contribs) 16:28, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, edits speak enough for themselves. I don't even think checkuser is required since what you've done is quite quite easy to spot. Sorry, but rules are rules and braking so many of them in a matter of few days is quite bad. Especially given the fact that you were already aware of them.-- L a v e o l  T 16:42, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Comments by other users
Quack.--SarekOfVulcan (talk) 16:40, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Should the recent SPA be added here? QUACK seems to apply as the account appears to only be interested in the BLP in question and the associated AfD; though I might be being over-sensitive. Fæ (talk) 11:01, 8 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Considering recent edits, I have added to the suspected list above. Fæ (talk) 16:44, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
GNègre contacted the unblock-en-l mailing list, requesting removal of an autoblock which was placed on Governare è far credere. Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 21:01, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

I have warned 8MA8 not to sock again. As for Micoapostolov, I did originally block but, after giving some thought, had to renege after noting that this is actually the subject of the article, so I'm more inclined to AGF in that situation. –MuZemike 21:13, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Evidence submitted by Laveol
The user in question continues his quest. I've been wondering now for years who the guy editing from that IP range (in Arachinovo, the Republic of Macedonia) is and now I think I know the answer. As to the actual evidence: The 79.126.246.63 IP started adding tags to a great number of articles (you can see that in the edit history). He added some to the article on the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising. Subsequently he continued re-adding it with no explanation whatsoever (trying from a different IP as well). When the first article got semi-protected he started reverting from his account. And since he turned out to be logged in, he did the reverts on the other page from the same account. Additionally, I noticed the IPs from that range editing articles on Universities in Italia (like Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies), which User:Micoapostolov, the previous sockpuppet of 8MA8, had edited as well. Even more, Micoapostolov has noted on his userpage that he is doing a Ph. D. in the same university. From all this I gather that this should be the same person. At the moment he is edit-warring on the two articles mentioned above and has made quite many reverts on both of them (the sockpuppeteer himself has already broken 3RR on one of them. -- L a v e o l  T 19:22, 6 September 2010 (UTC)  L a v e o l   T 19:22, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
– Clear behavioral evidence; look at the reversions made by both. –MuZemike 19:26, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

8MA8 blocked 1 week. 79.126.224.0/19 blocked 5 days.  E lockid  ( Talk ) 20:27, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

I don't see any good-faith purpose for the existence of the User:8MA8 account. May I surmise that the 'MA' in the user name stands for 'Mico Apostolov'? The 8MA8 account was already used to fake consensus in an AfD, and it has never commented on an article talk. The talk page of 8MA8 shows plenty of warnings, so it is not a question of a newbie getting confused and not knowing policy. In the last round of this SPI, 8MA8 was 'warned not to sock again.' This advice was clearly not taken, since IP socks have been active as well. 8MA8 has contributed as late as September 6, and has never become any more diplomatic. The main Mico Apostolov account is still free to edit, I suggest an indef block of 8MA8. EdJohnston (talk) 00:56, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Seconded. NativeForeigner Talk/Contribs 02:52, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed and have changed the block to indefinite.  E lockid  ( Talk ) 21:50, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Evidence submitted by Laveol
The user continues to use sockpuppets in his quest to add tags to Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising. Clearly it's the same person - he also edits articles on universities in Italy. Moreover, the IP is from the same range as all the previous ones. -- L a v e o l  T 19:59, 12 September 2010 (UTC)  L a v e o l   T 19:59, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
I have reblocked 79.126.224.0/19 for a longer period of time.  E lockid  ( Talk ) 22:01, 13 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Range is 79.126.224.0/19 NativeForeigner Talk/Contribs 20:10, 12 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Without doing any checks, I've blocked Aocim for the behavior and username connection (Aocim is Mico A. backwards). TN X Man  22:17, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Evidence submitted by Laveol
The user was registered shortly after the IPs and other registrations were blocked. He's edit-warring in the same principle topic (Macedonia). He's been doing it on two articles: Glagolitic alphabet and Clement of Ohrid. On one of them he made a revert with his IP, which geolocate tracks to come from the same village of Arachinovo. Although Geolocate says it's a different provider, it's evident that this must be the same person. The timing and the scope of the edit-warring are too much for a mere coincidence. -- L a v e o l  T 10:34, 16 September 2010 (UTC)  L a v e o l   T 10:34, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

Hi...

I am contributor to the Macedonian edition of Wikipedia. I have tried to contribute to the English editions few times, but the constant edit warring over history articles about Macedonia, makes you give up after while. Most of the Macedonian editors give up.

It is very irritating to me when I see that every part of our history is presented as exclusively Bulgarian or Greek. I do not consider myself to be a nationalist, and what I am writing is considered to be different from the main Macedonian nationalistic doctrine

I am trying to play by Wikipedia's rules. I am writing on talk pages, and I am citing every single info that I write. But somehow everything gets reverted and vandalized.

As far as the sock puppy investigation is conserned, the mentioned IP is my sock puppy, but simply because I forgot to log in.

You will see that in the morning I am accessing from a static IP address, and afterwords I am accessing from the IP pool: 95.180.214.X. This is a dynamic IP, that the provider allocates.

I don't know what geolocator Laveol is using, but a simple whois on RIPE will show you that both IP address belong to the same provider. Arachinovo is a really close match, but I am living in Skopje

I have made a couple of IP edits, but simply because I was not logged in from home.

Svrznik (talk) 01:09, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
– The only thing I am seeing that matches technically is approximate location, nothing else. –MuZemike 06:12, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

15 November 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

The IPs in question have been edit-warring in the scope the puppet-master used to. Moreover, they are from the same range mentioned in a previous investigation. I have the suspicion that he is editing articles from other IPs, as well. There are just too many of them. Currently, he is active from this range.  L a v e o l  T 17:50, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.'' Here is the active the same suspected person. Jingiby (talk) 20:21, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * It's a different range this time - 79.126.136.0/21. Unfortunately there'd be a lot of collateral damage in there, so instead I've protected the Third Halftime article for awhile. The 92 IP geolocates nearby, but I don't think one edit is enough to go on. Relist as necessary. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 02:59, 16 November 2011 (UTC)