Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Imthenumberonefan/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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Pinging and ... I've had my eye on this for quite a while. There's a COIN case filed on this by Bastun (sorry for sponging off of your report), so I'll quote from it and add my own analysis:

"The article TheLiberal.ie was created on 27 October 2015 by, their only ever edit. I have serious concerns that all of the above are single-purpose accounts with an obvious conflict of interest, namely an agenda of promoting TheLiberal.ie and presenting it in the best possible light: On the face of it, there definitely seems to be COI at play:
 * Following creation, subsequent edits were made by (who has made three edits, total - two to the article, one an appeal against a decision at Articles for Creation to not create an article on TheLiberal.ie).
 * has since made approximately 50 mainspace/talkpage edits. All of them have been to TheLiberal.ie, its Talk page, or its current AfD.  Prior to those edits, it appears this user had made at least five attempts to have the article created at AfC.
 * has made 20 edits to date; 19 of them have been to TheLiberal.ie, its Talk page, or its current AfD
 * Other editors, including myself, noticed what we perceived to be hyperbole on the article. Whenever we edit in accordance with policies such as WP:RS, WP:NPOV, etc., we are reverted. 3RR has been ignored, when Imthenumberonefan finally engaged on the talk page, it was to breach WP:NPA, and s/he seems unwilling to listen to the consensus.  The founder of the site covered in the article can't just be a named person, they must be described as an "entrepreneur".  The Liberal can't be mentioned as being one of 43 organisations to be nominated for a (minor) award, it must be presented if it was the only organisation nominated.  Accusations of plagiarism (reliably sourced) were first erased, and now have daft phrases added such as "Without any conviction" (plagiarism isn't a crime).
 * Single-purpose accounts;
 * Insertion of information not generally in the public domain:
 * Claim by Keepfightingeveryday that TheLiberal.ie launched/will launch theliberaldirectory.ie (site doesn't yet exist).
 * Claim by Imthenumberonefan that TheLiberal.ie will launch pretty.ie (site doesn't yet exist).
 * Claims made on AFD suggest Imthenumberonefan is privy to data analytics you would presumably need to have a specific business account login to access (i.e., NewsWhip won't tell me how Website Company A is doing if my account is for Website Company B).
 * Content of TheLiberal.ie website changed to include ownership by the LockSher Grop, following discussion on article's talk page. See Talk:TheLiberal.ie and this page changing the day after my comment in that section on 15 June to this version on 16 June.
 * Actually, those links also show that the staff names had been edited in to the website following earlier removal from the article, as poorly sourced."

Furthermore, there are some alarming behavioral patterns and similarities going on here:


 * Barumba's first edit was to respond to Bastun's questions to the alleged master on a potential conflict of interest. Bastun noted that this was suspicious: "your first contribution to Wikipedia is to the talk page of an obscure article linked to only from the talk pages of a couple of users, and a couple of admin pages."


 * Same sort of personal attacks and insinuations, many of them regarding Bastun's supposed "agenda" or ulterior motives:
 * Alleged master:
 * Barumba:.

In my opinion, this is evidently either COI meatpuppetry or sockpuppetry. Only Imthenumberonefan and Barumba can be CU'd, as the rest are stale. Thank you very much for your time and help. GABgab 21:34, 18 June 2016 (UTC)
 * yes, I had asked his second opinion, and he asked me to ping him if I opened a case. GABgab 23:29, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

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

The account 'Makeamericagreatagain' does not belong to the person that registered as 'Iamthenumberonefan' or any other related accounts. It was created by me in response to a request by said person to create a wikipedia page for TheLiberal.ie. At the time it was created, I fully believed that it was a notable, popular website in Ireland and it was shown to be as such, from its popularity on Facebook and Twitter. I did as I was requested; I am not a resident of Ireland, I do not have a stake in either the website or its success or failure, and I am no longer in touch with the owner. I have no other interest in the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Makeamericagreatagain (talk • contribs) 04:27, 19 June 2016 (UTC)

If anyone has actual evidence as opposed to fears or opinions let's hear it.Barumba (talk) 10:55, 19 June 2016 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
Is there a reason why you pinged Mike V (I understand the ping of Bastun)?--Bbb23 (talk) 23:26, 18 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks,, I'll leave it for Mike.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:31, 18 June 2016 (UTC)


 * These accounts are ❌:
 * is . Mike V • Talk 14:48, 19 June 2016 (UTC)
 * is . Mike V • Talk 14:48, 19 June 2016 (UTC)
 * is . Mike V • Talk 14:48, 19 June 2016 (UTC)
 * is . Mike V • Talk 14:48, 19 June 2016 (UTC)


 * The SPI result coupled with behaviour around the article and its AfD lead to the conclusion that three of the four named accounts (excluding Barumba) are COI/SPA and potentially meatpuppets. However none of the three accounts have edited since the article was deleted at AfD (and meatpuppetry does not seem to have unduly affected the AfD's closure). If the three accounts are somehow revived in the future and continue acting as SPAs I recommend that they be dealty with at COIN because COI/SPA meatpuppetry is always difficult to prove or act upon at SPI. At this moment only Barumba remains active (and is editing constructively without any apparent issues), so I am closing this without action. ☺ ·  Salvidrim!   ·  &#9993;  21:08, 14 July 2016 (UTC)