Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Anacapa/Archive

27 July 2012

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

More or less pro-forma: Brechbill123 was recently blocked as a sock of Anacapa. See an explanation at User_talk:JamesBWatson, User_talk:JamesBWatson, and an older report at User:Cailil/Sneaky vandalism on feminism and gender studies related articles. JamesBWatson concurred with me that fresh CU evidence from Brechbill might help dig up more possible socks (well, roommates, no doubt). While we're at it, can one of you have a look at Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Anacapa? I've already removed (see User talk:Chergles/archives) from that category, and it seems that  should be removed as well. Thanks. Drmies (talk) 15:32, 27 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Hotpotatoes is certainly a sockpuppet of Archtransit. (Both Hotpotatoes and a confirmed Archtransit sock have said so, as well as a checkuser saying it was "likely".) I see no evidence that Anacapa is the same person (though they may be), so I have moved Hotpotatoes from the Anacapa sock category to the Archtransit sock category. JamesBWatson (talk) 15:52, 27 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Do we distribute flyers in the Santa Barbara area and the Cal State campuses to inform Anacapa that they can defend themself here? Drmies (talk) 15:55, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

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

Drmies has spelled this all out quite well above, but I'd just note for clarity that Anacapa has used various IPs mainly in California (Goleta, but mainly in the Santa Barbara area and especially its University). However he has also popped up with IPs in Kansas, Atlanta and Colorado. Applying Ocam's razor it's clear that this person knows what they're doing IP-wise, most of what I found are listed here but with this in mind it's possible that Brechbill will have yet another Geo-location. I know CU wont comment on IPs so I'm NOT looking for that. I'm just hoping this will help you in your investigation. On the other hand User:Archtransit has been playing games here from the time of Anacpa's ban. Archtransit Socks like User:Chergles, User:Hotpotatoes and User:Uetz have attempted to derail discussions and fudge the issue regarding Anacapa a number of times (ie User:Anacapa Chergles) - so it's possible that this is an Archtransit sock-- Cailil  talk 15:59, 27 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, perfectly possible. However, the account Anacapa Chergles could alternatively be somebody trying to mislead us into thinking that Anacapa is an Archtransit sock. As far as I know there was never a checkuser on the account, and it's far too late for one now. In any case, both Anacapa and Archtransit have significant sockpuppetry histories, and a checkuser on the latest socks in case of sleepers would be helpful. JamesBWatson (talk) 08:40, 28 July 2012 (UTC)


 * I've just been looking at some of the history of this case from five years ago. The whole case is clearly much more complex than I realised, and I am truly impressed by the amount of work Cailil has put into it. As for Anacapa/Archtransit, I really don't see any evidence that they are the same person. The suspicion is based, as far as I can see, purely on one of the users coming to the defence of the other + both being known sockpuppeteers, and in no other respect do they look similar. That doesn't mean that I am ruling out the possibility that they are the same person, but I am saying that, unless I have missed something very significant, the evidence is far too flimsy to make that possibility even probable, let alone certain. JamesBWatson (talk) 09:24, 28 July 2012 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * is the only one that shows up, but it has no contribs, though is a ✅ match. If this editor comes back, do let us know. -- DQ  (ʞlɐʇ)  13:55, 28 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Considering the timing of the account creation (a little while after Brechbill123 posted an unblock request), I have blocked and tagged PranceyDancey. The others are already blocked. JamesBWatson (talk) 17:22, 28 July 2012 (UTC)