Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Bonnar212/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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

Both are trying to insert birthdates not provided by a reliable source on Grace Randolph. ~ Destroyeraa 🌀 16:43, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * even if users are blocked, please still run a CU check. Can’t hurt to check even if blocked, because we can check for sleepers as well and there may be part of a sock farm. HurricaneTracker495 (talk) 16:47, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Sock was blocked by, first for 48 hours and then indefinitely. He does not know about SPI however. HurricaneTracker495 (talk) 17:13, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I restored the 48h block. However, this is a SPA only interest in one article and only in certain type of info, precisely the same as another user was interested in. I would say a behavioral similarity is there.--Ymblanter (talk) 17:18, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * did you mean to block/tag the master or just the sock? HurricaneTracker495 (talk) 02:59, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * HurricaneTracker495 - Just the sock. I leave the master for admin discretion in these cases.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   23:47, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * To any admins/clerks reading this, I recommend at least a 2 week block for the master. HurricaneTracker495 (talk) 23:50, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Accounts are ✅. No sleepers found.  ~Oshwah~  (talk) (contribs)   01:35, 25 November 2020 (UTC)


 * As socking goes, this was a relatively minor transgression. I've blocked the master for 3 days.  Closing. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:30, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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

Investigation requested by an IP editor at WT:SPI; they did not provide evidence but I saw grounds for a check; results below.

This account was created on the same day that the previous report was filed: the report was created on 24 November between 16:43 and 17:18 (UTC); the account was created at 17:19. Their first edit (at 17:23) was to add an unreliable source (one of those user-submitted fan biography websites) asserting a particular birthdate for Grace Randolph. This was on the same day that both the master and the previous sock were involved in an extensive revert war over the same date and a variety of other unreliable sources. They include several overlaps:
 * legit.ng: Bonnar212, BrianBanksEditor
 * Facebook: Bonnar212, BrianBanksEditor
 * allfamous.org: Bonnar212, EditsToday44

However, BrianBanksEditor's first edit added idolbirthdays.net with an edit summary saying they saw it recommended on the talk page. That recommendation came from, who is blocked as an Andrew5 sock. Neither Bonnar212 nor EditsToday44 tried to add that source to the article, but they also haven't edited since before HT495's edit that recommended it.

Also note the 24 November timeline: Bonnar212 stopped editing at 14:35. EditsToday44 was created at 14:39 and began editing at 14:44, stopping at 17:04 when they were first blocked. BrianBanksEditor was created at 17:19. Bonnar212 wasn't blocked until two days later, and that block has long expired but they have not been back. Meanwhile HurricaneTracker495 never did much else than edit articles on tropical storms and U.S. highways, so I'm curious how they came across this YouTuber's biography seemingly only to revert this sockfarm, and then never edited the page again.

More below. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 15:06, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * I have dealt with both users before. Editstoday was an evident sock of Bonnar212, behaviorally. I had suspicions that BrianBanksEditor was a sock too because they popped up after Editstoday was blocked, which was fishy. I decided to AGF and ignore it. ~ Destroyeraa 🌀🇺🇸 23:37, 16 January 2021 (UTC)
 * This investigation is taking longer than I expected. We now have a situation where the Grace Randolph article uses Legit.ng, a website of questionable reliability that also allows user-submitted stories, as a source for the subject's birth date. Also, both the content and reference have been contested. Nevertheless, it's - yet again - being used in the article, this time for almost a month now. Removing the content has proven to be pointless, because after Bonnar212 and their sock puppet kept re-adding it, BrianBanksEditor was able to re-add it without repercussions. What I'm trying to say is, if there's no end date for this investigation, perhaps it's time for someone to step in and undo ? --143.176.30.65 (talk) 20:37, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * This account is to Bonnar212 - geolocation is a match but there's a desktop/mobile thing. They're also  with recent Andrew5 socks based on geolocation and one (common) device they have in common. I'd like a second opinion on all of this before taking any action. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 15:06, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
 * , I'm not sure whether you wanted a "second opinion" from a technical or behavioral perspective, but I'd call it fairly likely behaviorally that BrianBanksEditor is working with Bonnar212 in some way (brand new editor adding a source from the talk page, readding sources made by past Bonnar212 socks, and showing up at the corresponding BLPN argument? Not impossible, but rather unlikely). I'm not sure of the best way to sanction this - I'd call this evasion of scrutiny, and normally I'd give the master a short block and indef the sock, on the other hand we've done that already, but on the third hand I feel like indefs all around isn't the right move here.
 * As for Andrew5's relationship to this group...there's some weird interaction here - note that HT495 showed up in the archives of this case too, as far as I can tell that was without any sort of prompting. I'm wondering if they know each other off-wiki. Again, BBE using HT495's source from the talk page, plus HT495 finding this SPI, and the "possible" geolocation (so same general location). GeneralNotability (talk) 02:34, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
 * . Seems behaviorally similar enough to block. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 02:58, 23 February 2021 (UTC)