Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Hamdirfan987/Archive

03 June 2014

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Puppet master edits article on Raashid Alvi on May 27 at 11:49, making large changes to the article. At 11:53 SPA account Iffatalvi is created and makes another large edit, its first, to the same article. This account never develops a userpage. At 11:57 SPA account Nazhatafroz is created and makes its first edit to the same article-- it, too, never develops a userpage (this account is subsequently used to revert a number of edits by another editor on the same article only); At 12:40 SPA account Abrahamkhan123 is created and makes its first edit (to another article); by 12:45 it makes its first edit to the article in question and has been used for no other purpose since then-- it, too, never develops a userpage; at 12:51 SPA account Rohanroy is created and makes an edit-- it's only edit ever-- to the same article-- like the others before it, it never develops a userpage. Forward to May 28: at 1:25 an editor (me, logged in through my Commons account) removes a section of text deemed inappropriate; at 2:16 the edit is noticed by Hamdirfan987 but twice he decides not to save any modifications; at 11:18, however, account Iffatalvi is used to undo the revision; at 11:34 another editor removes a section of Indic script from the article and subsequently makes several changes to the image gallery; at 22:45 account Nazhatafroz is used to undo these changes; May 29, at 00:03 the editor who removed the Indic script re-removes it; at 6:59 another editor (not a part of this investigation) undoes this edit; at 07:01 it is re-removed by the editor who removed it the first time. Forward to May 30: at 00:39 account Iffatalvi is used to undo this edit and again replace the Indic script; 8:28 account Abrahamkhan123 requests page protection for the article. It is subsequently denied.

From this point forward the article history of Raashid Alvi shows a a revert-revert battlefield involving three legitimate editors (two mostly removing content, another mostly adding the same content back in) and a puppetmaster (who uses his account and his puppets' accounts to add material back in and to request page protection).

One of Rasheed Alvi's facebook pages specifically states "This Page is Managed by the Die Hard Fans of Raashid Alvi Saheb" and then states "Edited by Hamd Irfan, Shakeeluddin Owaisi, Zubair Qureshi, Sajid Khan, Rahul Roy." Hamd Irfan self identifies on his userpage, which signals a COI and a strong incentive for the creation of sockpuppets specifically for the purpose of controlling the content of the Raashid Alvi article and creating the illusion of support for the structure of the article as well as for its content (evidence of unflattering but relevant and documented information on the article's subject was removed by Iffatalvi on June 3 at 05:04; it was replaced at 05:06 and removed again under the same account at 05:08). These acts, especially taken in concert with the others performed under the same proposed puppetmaster though for different reasons, suggest the existence of community opinion in favor of only presenting the subject according the the puppetmaster's terms; the puppetmaster was also almost certainly using these accounts to circumvent the three-revert rule (perhaps this is why they were created in the first place).

(I believe I have all of my details straight here. I have never completed a sockpuppet investigation report before, so if I have omitted anything important please bear with me.)  KDS 4444  Talk  14:05, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

Comments by other users
Several of the SPAs are suspicious, in both their timing, often editing only minutes apart, and taking it in turns to revert, and their highly detailed knowledge of Wikipedia proceedures:-

User:Abrahamkhan123 deleted a connected contributor template with their third edit, deleted an image licensing tag with their fourth edit and made a request for page protection with their fifth edit

User:Iffatalvi made a large (3kb) addition with their very first edit deleted an image licensing tag with their second edit, started tagging files for moving to commons with their third edit  and awarded a barnstar (to their suspected puppetmaster) with their 16th edit

User:Nazhatafroz deleted an image licensing tag with their fourth edit - Arjayay (talk) 14:36, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * The following accounts are ✅ as :

--Jezebel's Ponyo bons mots 19:09, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * I made this same statement at WP:ANI, but it should suffice repeating here when marking this case for closure: I've blocked all identified editors indefinitely. The CU-confirmed sockpuppets were blocked without much need for consideration, but the master (Hamdirfan987) took a bit more thought. Given the editor's clean block log, I wanted to see what they had done before deciding on a block duration. What I saw was a coordinated effort of deception using these sockpuppets, in an attempt to create the impression of support for Khalid Alvi (in what is alleged above to be a conflict of interest). There are also copyright violation allegations, and what just really rubbed me the wrong way was his awarding of barnstars to himself from his socks. That just showed me that this editor's intentions went far beyond an ignorance of policy. --  At am a  頭 22:54, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

02 August 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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Same puffery edits on Raashid Alvi. See this edit from Ravimahato123 and this edit from a previous sock. CU is for any alternate accounts also created. Ravensfire ( talk ) 17:26, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

Note - Added Anupkumar786 to sock list as they are a mew accpimt that have also reverted to the socks preferred version. At a minimum, clear meatpuppetry is happening here. Ravensfire ( talk ) 17:32, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * Although only having made one, relatively routine, edit, was also created today and has only edited Raashid Alvi - would be a remarkable coincidence if they are not related. - Arjayay (talk) 17:59, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * . Three new accounts created today. May be more of them. Endorsing the CU to look for sleepers.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  14:50, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Shankarjevi was the only unblocked one, but all three are ✅. Courcelles (talk) 23:07, 4 August 2015 (UTC)
 * All blocked and tagged. Closing.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  23:49, 4 August 2015 (UTC)