Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Handrem/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets




Evidence submitted by DRosin
These users have two things in common. a) a COI with Love Systems and Nick Savoy. b) An identical editing history

Nick Savoy is the CEO of Love Systems, a company that runs dating workshops and sells dating-related products.

a)

Coaster7 created the Love Systems page. The user also proposed Nick Savoy for the following template which highlights notable members of the seduction community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Notable_Members_of_The_Seduction_Community&diff=prev&oldid=241571900

The user was previously questioned for the COI with Love Systems and Nick Savoy on the user's talk page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Coaster7

Camera123456 was previously suspected of being a sock puppet by User:RHaworth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Camera123456&diff=202152038&oldid=202151939

The user deleted this tag. One of the first edits of this user was adding Nick Savoy into a list of notable seduction 'gurus' on the seduction community page.

In the deletion review of Nick Savoy this user and Coaster7 supported each other's vote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Deletion_review/Log/2008_November_6&diff=prev&oldid=250310683

Handrem's substantial edits consist of writing about Love Systems and Nick Savoy, or editing the pages of their competitors, for example James Matador. Here is an early edit of Handrem, just an example of editing about Love Systems and Nick Savoy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Love_Systems&diff=prev&oldid=250334680

All three users are currently voting on an AfD for Adam Lyons, a competitor. I am the creator of this article, and I have no issue with them voting delete but I think their activity is suspicious especially in light of point b). It should be noted that all three of them voted within minutes of each other on the AfD.

b)

On all three of these users' contribution lists you will see one thing in common. A significant proportion and frequency of editing articles related to Love Systems, Nick Savoy and their competitors- and an array of other articles with no clear link. Every edit other than related to Love Systems etc. consists of the addition of one Wikilink to a word in the article, or a single correction of a spelling mistake. If you look through their contribution list and actually view their contributions, you will see that their edits add minimal value to the articles, but instead make it appear like they edit other things, ie. it makes it appear that they are not sockpuppets without having to go through the trouble of undergoing any valuable editing.

Here are the links to the last three edits by Handrem as a case in point

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pseudo.com&diff=prev&oldid=327960717

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leadership&diff=prev&oldid=327960589

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extended_Reach_Drilling&diff=prev&oldid=327960442

Here are the links to their contributions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Handrem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Coaster7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Camera123456

Also worth mentioning is the obscure knowledge they display in their edits which suggest they are close to Love Systems and Nick Savoy, if not part of Love Systems or Nick Savoy himself. An example of this is the information about the legal dispute between Erik von Markovik and Savoy.

To provide context the major competitors edited would likely be: Richard La Ruina, Adam Lyons, Mystery, James Matador among others.

This case may delve into meatpuppetry too, but it would be interesting to see if anyone else thinks this behaviour is suspicious and not beneficial to Wikipedia. DRosin (talk) 15:38, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

What ever happened to the Wikipedia corner stone of having good faith? You can look over my account history and see that I contribute to Wikipedia with a vast interest. No need for harassment. Handrem (talk) 19:42, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
Self-endorsing for CU attention here. The votestacking at the AFD is a concern, and they do have an overlapping range of articles edited. However, they all also edit different articles, so while there is some behavioral evidence here, there's nothing convincing for me to block alone on. A check could help here. MuZemike 02:53, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Conclusions
-- Avi (talk) 07:52, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

All accounts indefinitely blocked and tagged. MuZemike 08:42, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Evidence submitted by DRosin
Recently a user Handrem was blocked along with 5 other accounts for being sock puppets of each other. The investigation in the archive is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Handrem/Archive

The block log of Handrem is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/block&page=User%3AHandrem

These accounts had two things in common a) a COI with Love Systems and Nick Savoy b) an identical editing history.

Nick Savoy is the CEO of Love Systems, a company that runs dating workshops and sells dating-related products.

(1)

The accounts were blocked on November 30th 2009.

On December 1st 2009, the next day, user Deganveranx edits an article after 6 months of inactivity. The previous edit in June 26th 2009 was to add a significant amount of material to the Love Systems page, including pictures off a Love Systems product, Magic Bullets. When Deganveranx uploaded the pictures, the user alleged that the user was the copyright holder of the pictures, which would only be possible if the user was in real life Nick Savoy, the CEO of Love Systems, who authored the product the pictures came from and holds the copyright for them.

Here is a link to the user's contributions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Deganveranx

Here are links to the three edits done around June 26th 2009 before the user's hiatus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Love_Systems&diff=prev&oldid=298666026

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Three_pyramids_center.jpg&diff=prev&oldid=298665851

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Three_pyramids.jpg&diff=prev&oldid=298665553

(2)

The next point is that Deganveranx did an edit that is identical that Xandrus did on November 23rd 2009. Xandrus was blocked for being a sockpuppet of Handrem.

Here is a link to Xandrus' contributions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Xandrus

Here is Xandrus' edit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dating_coach&diff=prev&oldid=327506011

Here is Deganveranx's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dating_coach&diff=prev&oldid=330932427

Deganveranx added a picture of Nick Savoy to the article Dating Coach a week after Xandrus did. The picture was removed and Xandrus was blocked for being a sockpuppet with a COI with Nick Savoy and Love Systems.

(3)

Within the last week Deganveranx has uploaded another picture of Nick Savoy and added it to the Nick Savoy article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nick_Savoy&diff=prev&oldid=330934020

The user has created a page for Magic Bullets, a Love Systems product:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Bullets_(book)

Deganveranx has also voted Keep on an AfD of Jeremy Soul, an employee of Love Systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Jeremy_Soul

(4)

Finally what should be noted is the editing by the two accounts when they are editing articles unrelated to Love Systems. In the Sockpuppet investigation it was found that Handrem and the other sockpuppet accounts would edit random pages, changing a Wikilink or correcting one spelling mistake before moving on. This behaviour served to give the impression that the accounts edited a variety of subjects and had no COI with Love Systems. For example Handrem explained this on his talk page when I raised a COI question about his account:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Handrem#COI

The user states:

''I'm well aware of the seduction community but you can check my edit history and most of it is about other subjects than the dating industry. So I'm not sure why you are accusing my involvement with a particular dating company when I'm clearly not and my edits show this. I'm here to improve Wikipedia and clean up articles that need little edits. Handrem (talk) 22:32, 23 November 2009 (UTC)''

When you look at the other edits, which are covered in the previous Sockpuppet investigation of Handrem, you will see that they are strikingly similar to the edits of Deganveranx.

Here are the last three article edits unrelated to Love Systems from Deganveranx:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Poland_in_the_Eurovision_Dance_Contest&diff=prev&oldid=330981640

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fred_Miller_(journalist)&diff=prev&oldid=330981231

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hinamatsuri&diff=prev&oldid=330980707

Here are three edits cited in the Sockpuppet investigation to showcase this editing technique:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pseudo.com&diff=prev&oldid=327960717

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leadership&diff=prev&oldid=327960589

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extended_Reach_Drilling&diff=prev&oldid=327960442

As stated in the previous investigation:

''Every edit other than related to Love Systems etc. consists of the addition of one Wikilink to a word in the article, or a single correction of a spelling mistake. If you look through their contribution list and actually view their contributions, you will see that their edits add minimal value to the articles, but instead make it appear like they edit other things, ie. it makes it appear that they are not sockpuppets without having to go through the trouble of undergoing any valuable editing.''

I apologise for the length of the evidence given here. It is frustrating to see the user Handrem in my opinion evading a block. To summarise the points above:

Deganveranx has an identical editing pattern/behaviour to Handrem. Deganveranx's only significant edits relate to Love Systems and Nick Savoy. Deganveranx alleges to be the copyright holder of images that come from a Love Systems product. Deganveranx completed an identical edit to Xandrus, a sockpuppet of Handrem, a week after Xandrus was blocked.

I am requesting the Checkuser under code letter E, as I believe the user in question is evading a community-based block. I am not wholly familiar with the protocol for requesting Checkusers as I may be wrong as this is my second request for investigation, and hopefully my last.

Thank you for your time. DRosin (talk) 10:47, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Comments by accused parties
See Defending yourself against claims.

CheckUser requests
Requested by DRosin (talk) 10:47, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

MuZemike 02:12, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Clerk, patrolling admin and checkuser comments
✅ =

This page should probably be merged to Sockpuppet investigations/Handrem. J.delanoy gabs adds 21:22, 15 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Any connections for ? NW ( Talk ) 00:40, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅. I forgot to list him. J.delanoy gabs adds  00:40, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Conclusions

 * All blocked and tagged. NW ( Talk ) 00:42, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

07 February 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

All four suspected sockpuppet accounts were created in a 20 minute period on 17 May, 2010. All five accounts have very few edits, but have shown up to argue an obscure article's deletion should be overturned at Deletion review/Log/2011 January 31. When their edits are compared, they show equally odd overlaps on obscure articles, despite having very few total edits; for example It's hard to imagine this is all coincidental. Jayjg (talk) 00:18, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Bossanueva and Yankeefan233 have contiguous edits on Affiliate Summit
 * Damienp12 reverts for Oceansummer87 on Flirting
 * Yankeefan233 nominates an article for deletion (Articles for deletion/AJ Harbinger), and Oceansummer87 is one of only two editors who show up to !vote on the AfD
 * Yankeefan233 and Electrojet2008 both show up to comment at Deletion_review/Log/2011_February_2.

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

 * - All of these are fairly old accounts, but it's surprising that they all came back to life at once. Endorsing to see if this is meatpuppetry or socking. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 01:08, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The following are all matches:
 * TN X Man 20:09, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Jayjg blocked them all. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:00, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
 * TN X Man 20:09, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Jayjg blocked them all. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:00, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
 * TN X Man 20:09, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Jayjg blocked them all. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:00, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
 * TN X</b> Man 20:09, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Jayjg blocked them all. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:00, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
 * TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man 20:09, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Jayjg blocked them all. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:00, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

06 March 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

Deletion review/Log/2011 January 31 was plagued with relatively new accounts, all passionately arguing that the Articles for deletion/Jeremy Soul should be overturned. That AfD was itself plagued with WP:SPA accounts arguing the article should be kept. Now a new editor has recreated the article, and shown up on my Talk: page when I speedy deleted it. He is surprisingly well versed in both article writing and Wikipedia's deletion process, given that the article and his comments on my Talk: page were his very first edits. I strongly suspect this is just a new sock. Jayjg <small style="color:darkgreen;">(talk) 03:05, 6 March 2011 (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

 * - Exceedingly likely, but endorsing for double confirmation. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 03:30, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
 * TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man 14:46, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Blocked and tagged. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 15:07, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

06 March 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

This WP:SPA, created three days after the nest of Bossanueva socks was blocked, has just recreated the Jeremy Soul article, and has the same intersection with the Love Systems article that the other accounts had. Jayjg <small style="color:darkgreen;">(talk) 21:05, 6 March 2011 (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 technical evidence says. TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man 23:02, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Hm, alright. I've salted the Jeremy Soul article, so hopefully that puts an end to this. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 01:56, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

11 July 2012

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

more of the same and creating Love Systems/Nick Savoy userspace drafts, ...--Hu12 (talk) 16:45, 11 July 2012 (UTC) Hu12 (talk) 16:45, 11 July 2012 (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
— Berean Hunter   (talk)  21:26, 12 July 2012 (UTC) — Berean Hunter   (talk)  03:07, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Agree that these are more of the same socks and one has relisted today at Deletion Review. The links may need to be blacklisted and the article names salted if this goes on as well as several sock sandboxes cleaned out to prevent promotion.
 * Tagged, blocked, blacklisted and cleaned out the sock spam sandboxes--Hu12 (talk) 02:39, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
 * I believe that I have found another associated set of cases and would like a second opinion on merging them with this one. With edits like this, it looks like the same master to me: Sockpuppet investigations/Bossanueva/Archive.
 * Nice catch. Looked through a few deleted contribs of users in both sets of cases and it does appear to be quite a bit of cross related edits to; Mystery Method, Nick Savoy and Jeremy Soul. --Hu12 (talk) 05:08, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

Everything looks done here. Marking for close. <b style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:14px; color:#4682B4;">Elockid</b>  ( Talk ) 14:42, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
 * I closed the DRV but need an admin to delete and salt the page... Spartaz Humbug! 06:32, 13 July 2012 (UTC)