Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Dude Master 2/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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The user is currently the subject of an ANI report. They have made useful contributions, but there are significant problems with adding material that contradicts sources, and failing to communicate in any way. They haven't responded to any of the complaints. Instead they seem to have given up using the main account on December 27th, and are just editing logged out now to avoid scrutiny, starting December 29th. The IP hasn't made that many edits, but they follow similar patterns. Edits mainly to statistics, mobile web edits never using an edit summary. The IP has replaced the same rather obscure population statistic that the main account had edit warred over:, and reinstated an edit here:. Other edits generally on the same topics, statistics for population and economics related to India and overseas Asians. Hopefully a block of the IP would push them to log in and engage in some discussion. Not sure if a block of the main account is necessary or not. IamNotU (talk) 01:53, 2 January 2019 (UTC)

Added a new IP, geolocates to the same place and network. Has just reverted an article to an old version by the master: Special:Diff/873053557/881073242. Also making very similar edits, unsourced changes to population statistics that contradict the existing source, eg.: Special:Diff/878892080/879348483; pro-India POV, no communication. --IamNotU (talk) 18:32, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * There is currently no activity from this IP range. Please, reopen if he returns.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  00:10, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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(Note, all IPs are stale, just for cross-reference.) If this is the same user, they have been flying under the WP:RADAR for the past year or so, switching IPs and accounts, avoiding scrutiny (and blocks) at ANI and SPI investigations, and never communicating. Oxidised Alpha appears to have carried on from where the last IP left off on Feburary 5th (see original archived report). Their edits are sometimes helpful, but the amount of unsourced changes, especially to figures and statistics, is a problem, as are pro-India tendentious edits and edit-warring. They show a refusal to address or communicate about it in any way.

Repeatedly changing the Asian Canadians article without explanation:, , , , ,.

Edit-warring despite NPOV warnings, repeatedly changing "Pakistan-administered Kashmir" to "Pakistan-occupied Kashmir":, , , ,

Various changes to population and other figures, sometimes sourced but most often appear to be made up and/or contradict the existing source: ,

Shared interests in Indian transportation articles and overseas Asians.

As with the master, various complaints on their talk page about unsourced changes, but no communication there besides removing notices.

On the other hand, there isn't all that much crossover in articles, and Oxidised Alpha seems to have shown more interest in Indian military topics and less in Asian population demographics, compared to the others. Maybe checkuser is needed... IamNotU (talk) 11:48, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * I'm closing this case without action since there are a large number of people in this area with similar biases, so, combined with the differing focuses, sock puppetry isn't necessarily happening. However, is well on their way to a WP:CIR block. Reaper Eternal (talk) 15:40, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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I've previously reported Oxidised Alpha, and several other 116.72.2xx.xxx IPs. It was closed without action, but there's new evidence since then, and a new sock account.

This appears to be a single editor who changes to a new account after they've accumulated multiple warnings for disruptive editing, generally for unsourced changes and deletions, and edit warring. I've suspected sock puppetry since December, but it's been difficult to pin them down, hence the long report below (sorry about that)... As far as I can tell they've never been blocked, because they have avoided scrutiny by using multiple accounts, but there may be earlier accounts or IP blocks that I don't know about.

They have a habit of reapeatedly restoring their old revisions of articles, sometimes weeks or months later. It's difficult to find language patterns, as they almost never use talk pages, edit summaries, or write substantial article text. All edits of all accounts are tagged "Mobile edit, Mobile web edit".

The activity timeline looks like: There also seems to be some occasional logged-out editing, for example these two edits four minutes apart by 116.72.208.6: and Rams are:
 * Dude Master 2: 17 August to 27 December (2018)
 * 116.72.212.56: 29 December to 7 January
 * 116.72.213.77: 18 January to 5 February
 * Oxidised Alpha: 5 February to 20 March
 * Rams are: 21 March to present

Apart from the matching timeline of account creations, the most obvious link is the repeated unexplained restoring of the Asian Canadians article to a December 2018 revision by Dude Master 2, see Talk:Asian Canadians:


 * Edits by Dude Master 2:
 * Revert to same version by 116.72.213.77:
 * Revert to same version by Oxidised Alpha:, and again:
 * Revert to same version by Rams are:, and again:

I realize I may be bordering on edit-warring myself by undoing these restores, but the user doesn't respond to my pings on the talk page, and I can't report them for edit-warring since it appears to be multiple users, so I don't know what else to do...

One of the main complaints about this user is "fudging" of numbers and statistics, particularly about population demographics, especially Asian migrants (see this ANI report that was never resolved because they abandoned the account). Sometimes their changes are sourced, but sometimes the sources don't contain the information, and very often they are unsourced and obviously "guesstimated". Here Dude Master 2 inflates the population of Moroccan Jews by exactly 1,000,000, and changes their number in Israel from 486,000 to 1,000,000:. Four months later, Rams are does essentially the same thing:. Besides Asian Canadians, Rams are has made similar changes in Lebanese diaspora:, Lebanese Americans: , Moroccans in Spain: , and Buddhism: where the population in Myanmar is changed from 38,415,960 to 48,415,960 and other changes are made that contradict existing sources, for example the numbers for Taiwan.

At the time of the previous report of Oxidised Alpha on 17 March, there hadn't been that much of a crossover in the area of population demographics, but in the next days they edited several population articles. The first edit was to change the population of Chinese Jews from 90 to 1000, a topic that Dude Master 2 as well as 116.72.212.56 had previously edit warred over, see multiple edits in Kaifeng Jews. In addition there are unsourced changes by Oxidised Alpha to population figures in Filipino immigration to Mexico: and in Chinese Americans:, and edits to other demographics articles, up to 20 March when the account became dormant and Rams are was created.

Links via other 116.72.2xx.xxx IPs, on "Hathaway" ISP in Delhi:
 * To Dude Master 2: see first report for many behavioral similarities, for example, here 116.72.212.56 restores Joe Wong (comedian) to earlier version by Dude Master 2:
 * To Oxidised Alpha: final edit from 116.72.213.77, who had been editing articles about immigration to US and Canada, is 5 February. Oxidised Alpha account is created the same day, their first edit is a semi-protected edit request to change US immigration statistics.
 * To Rams are:
 * Rams are restores article Blue-water navy to earlier version by 116.72.208.6:
 * 116.72.208.6 removing/blanking large parts of List of Indian intelligence agencies:, Rams are doing the same thing: , , , etc. Rams are is currently edit warring in that article, as well as in 2019 Indian general election; if this is to be reported it would be helpful to know that they actually have a much longer history of warnings for edit warring and disruptive behavior.

Links between Oxidised Alpha and Rams are: -- IamNotU (talk) 19:43, 21 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Rams are account was created several hours after the final edit of Oxidised Alpha.
 * Mutual links to 116.72.2xx.xxx IP edits.
 * Repeating the same edit in 2016 Indian Line of Control strike: Oxidised Alpha:, ; Rams are: (note Dude Master 2 made the same change in other articles: , , as did Oxidised Alpha: )
 * Crossover in several articles, and similar subjects.

Comments by other users
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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
The two accounts are ✅ to each other. .--Bbb23 (talk) 20:35, 21 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Tagged and closing. GABgab 13:49, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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IP in the same range/location as older ones (see archived reports) began editing a few days after the previous sock account "Rams are" was blocked. Similar unsourced or improperly cited changes to population figures, etc. Also edits to Indian railway articles. -- IamNotU (talk) 12:05, 29 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Downplaying the number of Muslims in the Lebanese diaspora by (mis)using the word "minor" - Rams are:, 116.72.208.235:
 * Improperly-cited changes to population figures: (the named sources don't exist in the article)
 * Unsourced "fudging" and inflating numbers:
 * Reinstating reverted changes of previous obvious sock IP 116.72.208.6 (see for connection to sock Rams are): ,

The IP is continuing with obvious sock and disruptive edits for the past several days: -- IamNotU (talk) 15:01, 2 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Reinstating old edits of the master and previous socks in Moroccan Jews (unsourced/guesstimated changes to population figures) and edit-warring over them:
 * Dude Master 2:
 * Rams are:
 * 116.72.208.235: ,
 * Changes to population figures in other articles:
 * Adding unsourced figures:
 * Improperly cited figures, and unhelpful editing:, . Dude Master 2 has also edited this article.

More obvious repeats of previous editing: -- IamNotU (talk) 15:34, 4 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Inflating the valuation of Ola Cabs based on uncompleted future funding rounds:
 * Dude Master 2:
 * 116.72.208.235:

thanks for taking care of the block. The .214/215 addresses were a year or more ago, the two recent ones are within 116.72.208.0/24 - there was only one other user in there who did a lot of airport-related edits. Anyway I don't mind keeping an eye on 116.72.0.0/16 and reporting if/where new ones show up, the only thing is it took nearly a month to block this one... --IamNotU (talk) 23:58, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Comments by other users
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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - Certainly the same IP range, 116.72.*.* See if there's anything more to do. qedk (t 桜 c) 14:55, 22 May 2019 (UTC)
 * , I don't see a practical range block at this point: Special:Contributions/116.72.0.0/16 seems to offer too much collateral damage. All the IPs so far have been within Special:Contributions/116.72.208.0/21, but WHOIS doesn't list that as an actual allocation - the .208.* and .214/215.* addresses are in two separate /22 allocations that happen to be adjacent. I blocked Special:Contributions/116.72.208.235 for 2 weeks and reverted a small number of unsourced edits. ST47 (talk) 22:06, 22 May 2019 (UTC)
 * All done then, closing. qedk (t 桜 c) 07:28, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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Following the expiration of the previous two-week block of this IP, I've noticed similar edits to auto manufacturing articles (, previously:, , and others by previous socks), and improperly-sourced religious/ethnic group demographic statistics edits that appear to be original research:. (The numbers are claimed to be sourced from an existing citation of this page:, but they are contradicted by that page and the linked table: .) There are also many edits to "Indian general election" articles, similar to those of sock Special:Contributions/Rams are. This combination of interests, plus the fact that previous IPs have tended to be stable for several weeks or months, suggests that it's the same person as before the two-week IP block, who is continuing to evade the prior indef blocks of Rams are, etc. --IamNotU (talk) 17:59, 15 June 2019 (UTC) IamNotU (talk) 17:59, 15 June 2019 (UTC)


 * Although some contributions may be positive, the user continues to evade their block, make problematic edits, unsourced changes to religous/ethnic group articles and automotive articles, and to repeat or make similar edits to previous socks, eg: IP: ,  (note figures are inflated compared with the source), Rams are: , and IP: , Dude Master 2: , etc. --IamNotU (talk) 16:39, 23 June 2019 (UTC)


 * This IP, which appears to have been used exclusively by this editor, since 26 April, has continued to edit freely after the last block-evasion IP block expired. They have been making typical edits over the past few weeks, for example repeatedly making the same unsourced edit in Moroccan Jews:
 * IP 116.72.208.235:, previously: ,
 * Blocked sock account "Rams are":
 * Master "Dude Master 2":
 * Unsourced change to demographics figures in Leh district:
 * IP 116.72.208.235:
 * "Rams are":
 * Various other unsourced or improperly cited changes to statistics and demographics:, revenue figures for Indian companies: , etc.


 * --IamNotU (talk) 16:59, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * The IP edits are too old. Closing. Bbb23 (talk) 15:10, 14 July 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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

The usual IP range and geolocation of previously-blocked IPs. Similar patterns and topics, especially disruptive "fudging" or "guesstimation" adjustments of population numbers of ethnic groups, often contradicting an existing source. Repeating past edits, for example continuing a slow-motion edit war in Moroccan Jews:
 * 116.72.210.74:
 * 116.72.208.235 (previously blocked):, ,
 * Rams are:
 * Dude Master 2:

Their IP seems to change about once a month or so, sometimes more often, sometimes less. Afer 116.72.208.235 was blocked for two weeks in May, they immediately came back on that IP and continued into July. It looks like almost all the edits in Special:Contributions/116.72.208.0/21 for the past year are theirs, definitely ‎116.72.210.88 in October, ‎116.72.209.93 in September, etc. IamNotU (talk) 15:55, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Comments by other users
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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * It does seem like they keep coming back to different IPs within this range. I've blocked it for 6 months, anonymous only. ST47 (talk) 00:41, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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

Immediately upon expiry of the six-month block of 116.72.208.0/21 (see previous report), on 8 June, 116.72.212.18 started editing. This reverted edit from December: was promptly repeated:. The next day it was also tweaked by Voortrekker70, an account created also on 8 June:. There are several other similar edits in that article, e.g.: and:, plus older edits like:.

Similarly, parts of this December edit on the day of the block: were immediately repeated by Voortrekker70 on the day the account was created:, and here: ; and especially this, swapping the words "failures" and "accomplishments": ,. Probably this is enough evidence already, but if not there's more:

Here, 116.72.212.18 adds an infobox:, then two minutes later Voortrekker70 starts editing: , and proceeds to flesh out the infobox:. The article had also been edited by the previous IP: and sock "Rams are":. Voortrekker70's edit here: is very similar to this one by "Rams are":, and their edits here: , mimic other confirmed socks: ,.

116.72.212.18's edit of the first sentence here: is tweaked by Voortrekker70 one minute later:. After Voortrekker70's POV edits here: are reverted, they are restored half an hour later by 116.72.212.18:. The same happens here:,. See other crossover on their timeline:.

In addition to interests in Indian intelligence agencies etc., the user is known for a general behavior of unsourced "fudging" of numbers, especially population, e.g., , , etc., compare with , , , etc., and for downplaying the number of Muslims, compare: , , with. IamNotU (talk) 01:02, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Behavioral evidence seems convincing to me. Voortrekker, IP rangeblocked for another six months. GeneralNotability (talk) 02:21, 4 July 2020 (UTC)