Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Asouko/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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Prompted by ' ANI discussion here.

Two users, Asouko and MusicPatrol, as well as some IPs with few edits elsewhere, have been extremely overprotective of articles related to the band Phase, commenting extensively at current AfDs related to the band. Their behavior has raised some suspicion that they may be sockpuppet accounts.


 * Articles for deletion/Phase (band) (discussion from 2012)
 * Articles for deletion/Point of You
 * Articles for deletion/The Wait (Phase album)
 * Articles for deletion/In Consequence
 * Articles for deletion/Amethyst (Phase song)

Both use similarly poor grammar and spelling, particularly their overuse of ellipses. Both accounts have the vast majority of their edits on articles or AfDs relating to Phase. Both editors also have a tendency to request "expert" help, both in their AfD comments and in comments on the talk pages of random music-focused editors (Asouko: MusicPatrol: ) In addition, both accounts have recently made the rather odd offer to provide their phone numbers or other personal details to editors (Asouko:  MusicPatrol: ).

The remainder of the odd behavior is from 2012, so it may be too stale to be considered relevant here (if so, please feel free to hat or remove it).

MusicPatrol first turned up in Sept 2012. Within 10 minutes of registering their account, they started adding CSD tags and a copy-pasted pile of maintenance tags to multiple band articles. Looking more closely, the tag-bombs MusicPatrol added during that spree were identical to a set of tags that were placed on the Phase article when it was nominated for deletion in 2012, both in what tags were used and the order they were put in. All that was changed was the date: Original vs. MusicPatrol bombs:. There are more at the bottom of MusicPatrol's contribs page, and more that are visible to admins in their deleted contributions from articles that have since been deleted. Curiously, MusicPatrol never edited the Phase article until 2017, so it strikes me as suspicious that they nevertheless found and copied a specific set of tags that were on the article months prior, just when it was nominated for deletion. It seems to me that the MusicPatrol account was created as a bad hand to Asouko's good hand, as some kind of POINT-making tit-for-tat exercise ("if our band gets tagged so does everyone's"). They did a little more other-bands tagging when they initially returned in 2017 as well, though not with the same tag set

I believe another Phase-focused account, Hibaghanem, may be related, although it hasn't edited since 2012 so it is stale. However its behavior is odd enough to call attention to here. Unlike MusicPatrol, who arrived later, Hibaghanem participated in the 2012 AfD of Phase (band), commenting there that Phase wasn't any worse than a bunch of other bands. Many of those names were among those tag bombed by MusicPatrol as noted above, which again strikes me as an unlikely coincidence.

I am requesting CheckUser to confirm that the two active accounts are connected, as they are appear to be working together at AfD. &spades;PMC&spades; (talk) 02:01, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * comment I would like you to recall your comment about good grammar as I am slightly dislexic and it offends me.This is about Phase and ellipses are extensively used throughout the text! Is it me again? You keep on attacking me rather than taking my arguments seriously, while I can easily prove my identity to you with bank statements and everything. MusicPatrol (talk) 02:55, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * w/r/t Asouko and MusicPatrol; Hibaghanem is stale. It's a stunning coincidence that Hibaghanem's last edits were to MusicPatrol's talk page, on the same day that MusicPatrol first registered. It's a bit flimsy, but given that improbable coincidence I have to agree with the WP:GHBH speculation. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 13:30, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
 * - Katietalk 12:17, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Asouko, MusicPatrol, and are ✅ from each other. Katietalk 12:27, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you Katie. I have indeffed the socks, including Hibaghanem (for behavior even though it's stale). Because MusicPatrol was the only one still editing, I have treated it as the master and blocked it for one week, with an explanation on its talk page. Side note: this is my first interaction with an SPI, so if that's too much or too little, I give my express permission to any other patrolling admin to adjust the block as needed, although I'd appreciate a note on my talk page. Same goes if I've made any other errors here - please go ahead and fix them. &spades;PMC&spades; (talk) 06:37, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Master is, by definition, the oldest account. In this case, that is, but have not edited for 5 years. Second oldest is which made about two weeks ago. I recommend indeffing  and giving temporary block to .  Vanjagenije   (talk)  13:32, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
 * At this point I'm having a relatively constructive conversation with MusicPatrol on their talk page, so I'm going to leave it as is for now just for the sake of not confusing them and also not splitting up the discussion. Normally I'd have no problem reversing myself at your advice though. &spades;PMC&spades; (talk) 14:39, 17 August 2017 (UTC)