Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Amaravathiarun/Archive

18 September 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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I'm requesting a sock check because I suspect that these three accounts are from the same person. I first came across the lot through the edits by Amaravathiarun, as the user had uploaded several pages that were tagged for notability and as possible hoaxes. The user was blocked indefinitely on September 14th. One of the articles created by him, Singam 3 Danni Returns was recreated under Singam 3 Danny Returns by Singam dance. I did a little searching and found that another user, Nirmalaraman200, also tried to create a page for Singam 3. I want to note that this film does not actually exist and any talks about the film are just rumors and "yeah, I'd do it if they decided to make it", so there is no plot and no set cast, which is why it's considered a hoax. All of the users have been blocked, but given that there has been some attempt to get around the blocks makes me wonder if there aren't some sleeper accounts or any new accounts that have been created by this same person, assuming that it is one person. I'd like a check to see if there are any other accounts associated with this and maybe get the editor's IP range blocked if it is the same person. The edits from these users have been almost uniformly hoaxes or other disruptive editing. Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   09:30, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

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 * Socks blocked and tagged, IP addresses stale at this point. NativeForeigner Talk 21:59, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

26 September 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Additional new accounts removing AfD notices to Naan Evarukkum Aattathavan and Singham 3, which is a duplicate of the sockpuppets previous targets. The last account I already blocked as a sockpuppet as they had recreated P.V.Nirmala. Requesting confirmation and a sweep for other accounts. There are also several IPs being used, but since they are widely spaced addresses from a dynamic pool, I did not list them. -- Gogo Dodo (talk) 01:17, 26 September 2013 (UTC)

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Confirmed: Plus likely: Plus possible: Busy, vast and mobile IP ranges, thus behavioral evidence is important. I've checked only a tiny bit of their IP space. Materialscientist (talk) 04:44, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
 * All confirmed and likely accounts are now blocked indef. Mark Arsten (talk) 18:16, 26 September 2013 (UTC)

30 September 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Looks like a duck as the editor has interest in Muni 3: Ganga, a target of previous sockpuppets. Also created a duplicate of the article at Muni 3; Ganga. Previous socks have done similar things to other articles. Writing style is also similar.

Requesting confirmation. A sleeper check would be nice if the CU were so inclined, but I know that previous report had the sockpuppet on a very large and active wireless network. -- Gogo Dodo (talk) 16:50, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

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 * I went weeding for sleepers a fair bit but as Materialscientist stated the range is extremely large and extremely busy. This user is ✅, as is . NativeForeigner Talk 17:03, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Blocked and tagged socks, closing. Legoktm (talk) 17:19, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

29 October 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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This looks like a juvenile and mistaken attempt at sockpuppetry, bit one never knows, so I have started the investigation. It is always possible that the alleged puppet is a family member. The editor concerned is very proud of his family, but it feels odd. I have chosen not to notify the editors concerned, preferring to keep this low key. Fiddle  Faddle  23:25, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

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 * The users are already blocked; nothing to do here Sh i r ik  ( Questions or Comments? ) 21:18, 2 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: this section merged here from Sockpuppet investigations/Sankararamank/Archive. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

26 November 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Desire for pre-emptive prot of own userpage, creation of same Template:Pp-semi-lock to put padlock on own userpage. xFascination with the Muni/Ayan film series (including creating pages for not-yet-released ones). Also Sankararamank requested other page-proptections to enforce his own versions of some Muni-related films, and created other padlock templates to do so. Creation of articles in someone else's User: namespace, which are also about topics closely related to each other (User:Jaippavan Yaar and User:S.Krishnan). Sankararamank also engaged in other user-space page-move and -creation bad behavior (including creation of User:SDMCKS (blocked via CU)).

Lots of this behavior is suspicious for a new editor, so there may be an older master or SPI.

115.247.165.146 claims to be Sankararamank.

DMacks (talk) 15:10, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

Just noticed both named accounts also had copy-pasted templates onto their userpages rather than transluding or subst:ing (identical unusual (esp for newbie) behavior). DMacks (talk) 18:08, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

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 * Closing as master and both suspected socks have been blocked and no sleeper check has been requested. Mark Arsten (talk) 01:19, 28 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: this section merged here from Sockpuppet investigations/Sankararamank/Archive. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

28 November 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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I am unsure about this, but IF displays the same love of movies as S, and also inserts little padlocks to suggest protection on his articles. He displays the same linguistic abilities (shared with several tens of millions of his fellow countrymen), and a similar lack of WP:COMPETENCE, shared by hundreds of millions of us across the world. I suspect use of Checkuser would seal this beyond doubt, and part of me hopes I am mistaken. This is the reason I have chosen not to notify IF. If he is not a sockpuppet then why should he have an embarrassing note on his talk page? If he is one then process will take its course Fiddle   Faddle  14:22, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

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 * Another common behavior is copy-pasting of userbox template sources (rather than transclusion/substitution). This seems to be a *very* rare behavior on WP. Given the relatively long time these accounts have been active before someone recognizes their behavior, CU might help us find others who have not yet been noticed (there are zillions of mediocre and poor editors on Indian-film/personality articles, anything to cut down that time-waste would be appreciated). DMacks (talk) 20:06, 28 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Another common behavior (also as I noted in previous report) is pre-emptive request for prot of userpage and favorite articles. Based on that, I'm indef'ing this editor as obvious sock, but still suspect there may be others out there. DMacks (talk) 20:08, 28 November 2013 (UTC)




 * This IP seems to say he is caught in Sankararamank's autoblock, and his other edit is to Nenjam Marappathillai, which is one of Indian Fellow's pet articles. DMacks (talk) 04:30, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

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See heading of 2013-12-02. -- Avi (talk) 15:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Indian Fellow tagged and blocked indef. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:32, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: this section merged here from Sockpuppet investigations/Sankararamank/Archive. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

29 November 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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Block evasion and the same style of editing as the sockmaster and his multiple puppets. Do we have sleepers? Checkuser is needed I think. This time I choose to notify them. The overarching problem here is WP:COMPETENCE together with an imperfect grasp of even basic English Fiddle   Faddle  13:57, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

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And another: Same symptoms of WP:CIR problems with communicating, misunderstanding of deletion and protection systems, same favorite other editors and article-targets, and use of each others' userspace. DMacks (talk) 17:34, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

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See heading of 2013-12-02. -- Avi (talk) 15:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Ramesh Rahul tagged and blocked indef. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:32, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: this section merged here from Sockpuppet investigations/Sankararamank/Archive. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

02 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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This just carries on and on. Same naive edits on user and talk pages. Same knowledge of other linked users' talk pages. Same film interests. Checkuser for sleepers etc, please. Fiddle  Faddle  14:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Oh good grief. See this diff for an admission! Fiddle   Faddle  14:43, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

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. Whilst the specific IPs are different, the used ranges are very close (owned by same companies; same local geopolitical area, even between ranges) and the other technical information is identical. It is my opinion that the technical evidence can serve to confirm behavioral activity as being sock/meat puppets. -- Avi (talk) 15:26, 2 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Amsaveni Suganya tagged and blocked indef. Closing now. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:32, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: this section merged here from Sockpuppet investigations/Sankararamank/Archive. Mark Arsten (talk) 16:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

02 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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Having followed the puppet for some time I now see that these two may be the same, thus one a sock of the other. This is thus a procedural report which may require the use of Checkuser to decide whether they are one and the same and whether the files should be merged. To alert other interested parties I am notifying the users, something I realise to be pointless from a user perspective  Fiddle   Faddle  23:52, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I ought to have added Sockpuppet_investigations/Sankararamank for reference purposes. Apologies. Fiddle   Faddle  00:20, 3 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm sure I don't really need to mention it, but a serious check for sleepers would be beneficial here since it is likely we have found a nest of them. Fiddle   Faddle  00:23, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

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 * - Rschen7754 08:56, 6 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I understand your desire for diffs. I had felt that this would, however, be a simple exercise to note that each sockmaster had entirely similar interests (see each contribution record) and thus would justify use of CU. It really does not matter if the two are combined as one set of socks or left as a pair. I simply felt it would be a useful process to determine if they are the same. I have little net access for a few days, buty was also active in tracking down Sanka-Socks, and may have additional thoughts and inout.  Fiddle   Faddle  09:03, 6 December 2013 (UTC)
 * It is not the role of the clerks to make the case for you; CUs need the diffs as justification to run a check, as they cannot just run checks because someone asked them to. --Rschen7754 09:08, 6 December 2013 (UTC)


 * - but please give more explanation next time. CUs: note similar interest in Muni* pages across many accounts in the history. Rschen7754 09:09, 6 December 2013 (UTC)
 * My apologies. I had thought in error that the contributions records of a pair of repeated socks would be sufficient in this case. Fiddle   Faddle  09:40, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

✅ =

A range block is impracticable. J.delanoy gabs adds 00:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Blocked, tagged, closing. Rschen7754 00:08, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

11 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Same focus on building userspace with prot and template games, and on certain film-stars and their supposed films. DMacks (talk) 15:06, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Account is blocked and tagged, and I agree that they are very likely the same person. Nothing more to do so closing. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 01:01, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

17 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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Same infatuation with muni* articles, same bizarre User page with alleged protection, same old edit patterns, same fiddling with subpages in other editor accounts. I suppose I should request checkuser because of this, citing the contributions record, but the puppetmaster has not edited in decades, so please use Checkuser at your sole discretion, perhaps to check against more recent socks. This is smoking gun quacking duck evidence against a now prolific sockmaster Fiddle   Faddle  14:18, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

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 * Blocked indef per duck test. Mark Arsten (talk) 17:30, 17 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Checked for sleepers due to intensive history. Didn't find any sockfarm but found the old, inactive, but obvious NativeForeigner Talk 03:23, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

17 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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This diff identifies this IP as, whcih gives me cause for concern that other sleeping accounts may exist as well. Hence my suggestion that Checkuser be used to seek to identify sleepers. Fiddle  Faddle  15:30, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

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CU won't publicly link IPs and accounts. NativeForeigner Talk 03:23, 18 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I've blocked the IP for one week based on behavior. Closing this half now. Mark Arsten (talk) 03:43, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

23 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
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Same bizarre messing about in other people's user space, copying and pasting things against users' requests and interest in muni* articles.

Quack me sideways, and please, seriously consider Checkuser for yet more sleepers of this pointless sock drawer Fiddle   Faddle  15:39, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

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 * Venjancee blocked indef per the duck test. Mark Arsten (talk) 20:05, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

26 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Same fixation on certain film-stars, fumbling with userspace and protection games. DMacks (talk) 10:36, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

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 * All blocked indef per behavior. Mark Arsten (talk) 04:20, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

31 December 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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All the usual: (re)creation of same pages, userspace/prot stupidity, etc. DMacks (talk) 03:56, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

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 * It appears that all current socks have been blocked, and as another CU mentioned, rangeblocks won't be possible here. Closing all current cases. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:42, 31 December 2013 (UTC)