Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mr Miles/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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These three accounts have interacted in a suspicious way on Talk:Trans woman. I set User:Mr Miles as the master because it is the oldest account. The clearest behavioural evidence is perhaps the pause in the H Remster activity after this edit, followed by a series of edits by Mr Miles beginning here and ending here, then resuming with User:H Remster here after the Mr Miles account was blocked. The two accounts read like the "id" and "superego" expressions of the same POV, with occasional lapses like this. User:Stopbeingobtuse, like the other two accounts, has acted as a SPA interested in the Trans woman page, and used topic-specific terminology similar to the other two accounts. Newimpartial (talk) 15:01, 2 August 2020 (UTC) Newimpartial (talk) 15:01, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

There was also this intervention by H Remster citing a particular comment by User:Userwoman nearly two years ago, which may also have been a tell. The Userwoman account was essentially an SPA in this topic area (on multiple pages) before being topic-banned in August 2018; very similar arguments were periodically made by "new" SPAs on this page, notably User:Edamskits (diff) and User:Ronald Baxter (diff)in strictly sequential order. Newimpartial (talk) 15:58, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

I've added Casey577 to the list, as zie has turned up at roughly the point where Mr Miles has stopped posting and H Remster has started again. Since only a lunatic could query the formulation "A trans woman is a woman", this is clear evidence of sockpuppetry. H Remster (talk) 20:47, 8 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Removed Casey577 and struck the above comment since H Remster is the target of this sock investigation and so them adding people to it is clearly not done in good faith. Loki (talk) 05:04, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Alternative explanation (the correct one, since you ask): Casey577's contribution matches the pattern identified by the person who initiated the investigation, so including Casey577 would obviate the need for a further investigation. H Remster (talk) 09:07, 10 August 2020 (UTC)

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

This is a ridiculous accusation. This user, Newimpartial who makes this claim is doing so simply to shut down any criticism of the highly biased editing on the article Trans woman. Newimpartial is an activist not a good faith editor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr_Miles (talk • contribs) 10:31, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

I don't think there's anything for me to respond to here. Not knowing any of the other editors, I haven't a clue why our contributions should form the pattern that NewImpartial thinks he or she has detected. I'll just let this bizarre (if fascinating) affair run its course. H Remster (talk) 11:10, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

@RoySmith. I've no idea about the timing. I looked up "Trans woman" after reading an article on the BBC website. Maybe Mr Miles read the same article. However, can't you just put this to bed by looking at our IP addresses? Mr Miles's profile says he's in London, wheareas I'm 60 miles away in Cambridge. H Remster (talk) 11:25, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Occasionally you'll find me posting from this location, which is even further from London. H Remster (talk) 16:47, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Finally (I sincerely hope), I've just checked Mr Miles's contribution history, and what you say about the timings is plainly false. Mr Miles first edited Trans woman and Talk:Trans woman on 27th July, after a hiatus of seven years. By contrast, I first edited Talk:Trans woman (I don't think I've ever edited Trans woman) on 6th July, after a hiatus of five days. H Remster (talk) 17:18, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Remster, it might be helpful for this process if you were to declare whether you made any of the IP comments on Talk:Trans woman prior to July 6 of this year and, if so, which ones. Newimpartial (talk) 17:24, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * I think it's highly unlikely that I'd ever visited Trans woman before July this year, let alone commented on Talk:Trans woman. If I've made any IP comments at all since creating my account, it will have been by accident. H Remster (talk) 17:41, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * By the way, since I've now been drawn into this, I might as well comment on the Userwoman thing. I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I recall searching the RfC for evidence that what I was proposing had been discussed already, which is a claim that was being bandied about at the time. My browser's search tool will have found a particular word in the comment I quoted, although I can't tell you off the top of my head what it was. H Remster (talk) 17:51, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - Looking at Mr. Miles and H. Remster, they're both old accounts which were idle for several years, then both woke up within a day of each other to make large numbers of edits to Trans woman and it's talk page. Their timecards (Miles vs Remster), are very similar, although that may be nothing more than they both live where 0Z-8Z is sleep time.  Their use of edit comments is similar (that is to say, neither uses them often), and the general tone of their writing is similar.


 * The gist of all that is the timing of their waking up makes me suspicious, and while the rest of it isn't strongly supporting, neither does any of it make me doubt my suspicion. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:51, 19 August 2020 (UTC)


 * The non-stale accounts are, . ST47 (talk) 17:41, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * , Thanks. From what I can see, the behavioral evidence was enough to justify endorsing, but I can't see going any further on a "possible" finding.  If one is in London and the other in Cambridge, that would explain the similar timecards, and I'm guessing the CU finding is based on their IPs geolocating near each other.  Looking deeper into their long-term editing history, I don't see much overlap.  And, looking again at their history, I see I mis-read the timeline; they both became active in July of this year, but a couple of weeks apart, not one day.  Closing with no action taken. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:53, 19 August 2020 (UTC)