Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mfcmaster/Archive

14 January 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
 * Editor interaction utility

I suspect Mfcmaster and Cerberus099 are the same person. Easy Computer Sync is an inexpensive computer utility software package. Mfcmaster created the article about it. Cerberus099 created an article another software package developed by the same company. Both oldid's I linked to in the last two sentences include an out-of-place comma in the third word after the lead. The oldid's include "External Links" sections which are almost word-for-word identical. Both oldid's have unnecessary Title Case in their respective infoboxes' "Type" field. And there are other similarities. Cerberus099 once deleted an article maintenance template on an article s/he wrote.

I also suspect that Mfcmaster and Omnipedia09 may be the same person, though my evidence is much weaker. Omnipedia09 has only ever edited one article, Easy Computer Sync, and has deleted maintenance templates from the article three times. Mfcmaster, creator of the Easy Computer Sync article, is a fairly inexperienced user &mdash; he/she has made less than 30 edits &mdash; and Mfcmaster has also deleted maintenance templates from Easy Computer Sync once. Even though each user is inexperienced, each user has a user page which is a couple of lines long. Each user page discusses the user's interests, among other topics. The writing on each account's user page makes clear that the Mfcmaster account represents a computer programmer and the Omnipedia account represents someone who likes computers.

It is unfortunate that the above accounts may be engaging in sockpuppetry. 1) Mostly the three accounts have created or edited mediocre articles about Bravura Software and its products. 2) Each of the three accounts has violated policy, in some cases several times or more. See the templates I have placed in the "January 2013" sections of their talk pages. 3) In addition, sockpuppetry allows the accounts to violate policy more times before getting to user warning template level 4, and makes it harder for Wikipedians to see the trend of non-NPOV editing the accounts have done. 4) And considering their activities as a whole, I assume that all three accounts are operated either by a Bravura Software employee or a paid editor. In conclusion, sockpuppetry in cases like this is a shady tactic which makes Wikipedians' jobs more difficult.

Thank you for your time.

--Unforgettableid (talk) 21:30, 14 January 2013 (UTC); edited 23:56, 14 January 2013 (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

 * As you say, you have weakly theorised how the accounts may be operated by one person, but you have not really explained how they are being used abusively. Could you please do so? Otherwise there is no sockpuppetry. WilliamH (talk) 23:29, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Oh. I didn't realize that I must prove abuse. I have added a third paragraph to my original report above describing the unfortunate edits which the three accounts have made. Kind regards, --original case opener Unforgettableid (talk) 23:51, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

✅ =

J.delanoy gabs adds 02:23, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Socks blocked indefinitely, and the master has been blocked for a week. Someguy1221 (talk) 02:29, 15 January 2013 (UTC)