Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Autonationwiki/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets

 * ( original case name)


 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

I started following AutoNation after removing a spam source that was on a bunch of pages]. I started smelling the COI after seeing an edit marked as minor with the summary of "Removed PPP Controversial Issue at the request of the company". Yeah, that's a red flag. So I just dug deeper and realized there's a lot going on dating back to 2006 or 2007 when there were obviously COI/POV edits and was being mentioned in edits and in article tags.

Since these are almost all WP:SPA, I'm not showing enough diffs to fully make my case. Here are specific notes about the timelines of each user. I'm also pinging who had some weird communications that are informative. have dealt with this page in the past but to a much lower amount, so I don't expect they have knowledge or memory, it's just a courtesy.


 * List 1: clearly connected to the company, likely connected to each other
 * 2013-2017 "I am the editor in chief of AutoNation."
 * 2015; blocked "sockpuppetry and username"
 * 2015-2020 "at the request of the company"; reused User:CorporateMapWiki/sandbox as their own sandbox for an AutoNation-related article on Cheryl B Miller.
 * 2018-2019; also note Draft:Carl Liebert, especially where it is fully written.
 * 2015; "local branding", "Per Request from H Wayne Huizenga through official intermediaries", "AutoNation's Office of Corporate Communications has hired.. (them)"; blocked "nothere/advertising"
 * 2015; only one edit
 * 2006


 * List 2: possibly solo acts.
 * 2016; places self as founder of predecessor; only one edit
 * 2007; single edit temorally related to Pgurlygirl
 * 2007; "I am part of the legal team"; attacks some editors on their talk pages (but this is an anti-autonation account? I think it's from an activist shareholder group)
 * 2018; "I have worked for the company for over 3 years"; only one related edit
 * 2012-2019; first half of editing history were to Hyundai articles, including John Krafcik. Second half are to AutoNation. AutoNation and Hyundai appear connected through deals with Waymo, and Krafcik may be the common link.


 * List 3: SPA-style IPs:
 * 2020
 * 2012-2014
 * 2008
 * 2006
 * 2012; single edit, deleted, which is fairly clear


 * List 5: related articles: generally CEOs and ex-CEOs
 * Mike Maroone
 * Mike Jackson (automotive)
 * Scott W. Rothstein diff
 * Marc Cannon and related AFD; two of the users on the first list edited it, as well as the "174" and "63.5" IPs. The Marc Cannon image file history is also informative with a few users and names. Note some of that isn't deleted on the Wikimedia version, see "Original upload log".

There's a 2010 COI/N discussion about users who had edits that intersected with these pages, but I don't think there's any relation to this case.

I know many of these are old and won't have as much evidence inside of the checkuser realm. But even in the _public_ evidence there's enough going on that it'd be nice to definitively connect them to mark it on the article talk pages.

Finally, as an admin who has edited the page, can you please review my actions? I would like to stay involved as an admin, but will refrain from doing so if my edits or actions are impeachable. tedder (talk) 18:59, 20 August 2020 (UTC)

Comments by other users
Thanks for the ping; I have no recollection of reviewing the problematic edits, but it certainly looks like your suspicions are well founded. UnitedStatesian (talk) 19:07, 20 August 2020 (UTC) ''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Moved to oldest of the related accounts. GeneralNotability (talk) 18:54, 21 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Thoughts:
 * Nativeborn and CorporateMapWiki are without question related (one edited the other's sandbox)
 * IPs are way too stale to do anything
 * Mgreason's talk page message is confusing, but I think they were posting an email exchange they received from someone else.
 * From group 1:
 * Carnews I'm not quite sure enough to block - SPA, sure, but their one edit isn't unambiguously promotional enough to lump them in.
 * Ultimatedjz I'm likewise not sure enough (doesn't matter too much, since they haven't edited in over a decade)
 * From group 2:
 * Robert Alpert appears to be self-promoting but isn't clearly related.
 * Pgurlygirl seems to be anti-AutoNation, presumably unrelated.
 * Storm2king is a COI editor but I don't think they're part of the main group.
 * Letigre could be part of the sock group but I'm not confident.
 * Everyone else is an SPA on AutoNation-related topics, several do share the "minor edits quirk" as well.
 * the SPAs from group 1 as suspected socks (/possibly meatpuppets) since there is overlap in edit time. I'm also going to semi-protect the relevant pages indefinitely. I don't think CU is needed here, closing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by GeneralNotability (talk • contribs) 18:56, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
One of a COI sockfarm targeting AutoNation. Very similar username to Tramel33166 who is also blocked as an AutoNationWiki sock. edits to talk page Snowmanonahoe (talk) 16:36, 27 March 2023 (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 target page and user name is enough for me. Please, block the account as suspected. Thank you. MarioGom (talk) 16:33, 7 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Blocked and tagged, closing.  Girth Summit  (blether)  14:53, 8 April 2023 (UTC)