Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/PatCheng/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

This ban appeal currently on AN is related to this.
 * PatCheng stopped editing in September 2006. He was blocked several times in June 2006, and there were two ANI threads about his logged-out editing with Australian IPs: 1  &  2.
 * PCPP registered on 18 June 2006 (when PatCheng was blocked) and started editing in November 2006.
 * PCPP was topic-banned from Falun Gong in 2011:
 * In June 2019, PatCheng returned from a 12 year hiatus to report  to ANI for Falun Gong edits: . Later, he filed two AE threads:  and edited Falun Gong and China related topics.


 * The editor interaction tool shows numerous Falun Gong and China-related common articles. In addition to these, they have edited same video games articles, which is the smoking gun. These include PC PowerPlay, Template:Handheld game consoles, Xbox 360 technical problems, MapleStory, Unreal (1998 video game), Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, Template:Blizzard Entertainment. One particularly curious action is that both accounts have moved the Hitman (franchise) page to a similar target. There's also intersection in Australia-related topics like Peter Wong (Australian politician). Given that both accounts have a relatively low edit count (c. 3,000), this is highly suspicious.

It is evident beyond a reasonable doubt that PatCheng created PCPP after his main account became embroiled in controversy and was indefinitely blocked for a period. In June 2019, he returned to use the main account because PCPP had been topic-banned from FLG and his report dealt with the topic.

Marvin 2009 also alleges that and  are his socks. Despite STSC's suspicious registration date in July 2006, I don't see strong evidence in the editor interaction tool and I left them out. [https://xtools.wmflabs.org/ec/en.wikipedia.org/STSC STSC created his account in Jul 2006 and was inactive - edited 125 times before 2011. PCPP was topic banned in Feb 2011. In 2011 STSC turned to be quite active - edited 1535 times in 2011 alone] and The account LucasGeorge was in Jan 2012 after PCPP was topic banned in Feb 2011, turned to be active in June 2016 - 2 months after STSC was topic banned. .

Although PatCheng was topic-banned with a boomerang in the latest AE thread, he should be blocked for violating the earlier topic ban on PCPP. Pudeo (talk) 08:04, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I just noticed that two of PatCheng's socks from the period had been blocked: PatChan (14 June 2006) and PatriciaC (15 June 2006). PCPP was created on 18 June 2006. Hey maybe that username stands for something... --Pudeo (talk) 13:01, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

I imagine those were your comments on Marvin 2009's evidence, not this SPI. It makes sense why PCPP/PatCheng would return with the original account after being topic-banned, despite so many years in-between. PCPP appealed the topic-ban in 2016 because he wanted to file AE cases: I would have to have the rights to file cases against users who I find might violate the FLG arbitration case. You can file those with a clean previous account. PCPP originally registered when PatCheng was blocked, mere days after two other socks had been banned (PatChan & PatriciaC). Combine this with the interlap on China, FLG and video game articles. --Pudeo (talk) 20:21, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

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


 * PCPP's account would be stale by now. But given the evidence of multiple sock puppets as noted above, it certainly seems worth checking if the IP associated with PatCheng is currently running other accounts as well. The Blue Canoe  21:16, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * It looks like PCPP is so all what we can do here is a behavioural investigation. Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk) 08:40, 27 July 2020 (UTC)


 * My comments on the behavioral are here -- Guerillero &#124;  Parlez Moi  19:56, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * There is indeed a significant overlap between the two accounts, which warrants further investigation., can you please comment on this (avoiding Falun Gong topics, which are covered by your topic ban)? If you do not comment, the case will proceed without your response. —  Newslinger  talk   20:04, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Has not edited since JUly 4, 2020 -- Deep fried okra  ( talk ) 20:12, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Well, if PatCheng can return after 12 years, there's a possibility that they might return after 23 days. —  Newslinger  talk   20:18, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * To assist with research, here is a list of IP addresses associated with PatCheng that were blocked in June 2006, some of which were used for block evasion after PatCheng was indefinitely blocked on 8 June 2006:
 * On 16 June 2006 in the WikiEN-l mailing list, PatCheng admitted to creating the two sockpuppets that Pudeo listed above:
 * – only edit on 13 June 2006
 * – created 15 June 2006
 * I am surprised that PatCheng was unblocked on 28 June 2006 after a simple apology. User conduct standards were apparently much lower back then. —  Newslinger  talk   22:23, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Guerillero makes a good point that PatCheng and PCPP tend to edit in different hours. However, both PatCheng and PCPP are associated with both China and Australia. PatCheng claimed in 2006 that they live in Sydney, Australia, and has made numerous comments including "...especially from someone who never set foot in China" and "...considering that you never set foot in China..." that imply a geographic connection to China. PCPP stated, "Hey you live in Sydney? I live there as well." in November 2007, and "I was from the PRC as well, and I just started my university term in Sydney this year." in August 2009, although PCPP had used a "college shared IP" as early as August 2007. Going back to the WikiEN-l mailing list, PatCheng stated in June 2006 that they "have been a Wikipedia user since 2004 from the NSW high school based proxies, IPs, ranging from 203.166.9*.2**". With or without a gap year, it is plausible that PatCheng/PCPP was from China, attended a high school in New South Wales in 2004, and attended university around 2007–2009. Combined with all of the other behavioral evidence, I am convinced that the PatCheng and PCPP accounts are controlled by the same individual. Absent objections, I will block these accounts for sockpuppetry. —  Newslinger   talk   23:53, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
 * After some more research, I found that both PatCheng and PCPP have an unusual affinity for the phrase "set foot in China":
 * PatCheng
 * 24 March 2006: "Says someone from Finland who never set foot in China, let alone finding Sujiatun on a map of China."
 * 4 May 2006: "What a idiot. I don't see Chinese people worshipping giant portraits of Hu Jintao, or pray to him everyday. Your sayings are moot, especially from someone who never set foot in China."
 * 4 May 2006: "The same applies to you, considering that you never set foot in China, and base all your judgments on FLG conspiracy theories."
 * PCPP
 * 21 November 2007: "Mate, have you ever set foot in China? The last thing we need is foreigners acting as if they're 'enlightened' and know everything about China."
 * 16 August 2008: "Kilgour and Matas, two Canadian politicians sponsored by Falun Gong, who never set foot in China and conducted investigations based only on circumstantial claims, were given an undue weight and has almost the entire article dedicated to them."
 * 1 November 2008: "These two were hired by the CIPFG, we don't need an essay on their entire report, especially considering that the never set foot in China and never actually proved the allegations beside a few nitpickings."
 * 15 May 2009: "A conspiracy theory claiming that the PRC is running concentration camps for FLG practitioner and harvesting their organs while alive, while over 50% of this article comes one source, David Kilgour and Matas, two FLG-sponsored politicians from Canada who never set foot in China..."
 * PatCheng stopped using the phrase after a talk page warning at on 4 May 2006, but PCPP continued the habit.  At this point, I believe the available evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that PatCheng and PCPP are the same individual, and I will be blocking the accounts shortly. —  Newslinger   talk   01:35, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
 * PatCheng
 * 24 March 2006: "Says someone from Finland who never set foot in China, let alone finding Sujiatun on a map of China."
 * 4 May 2006: "What a idiot. I don't see Chinese people worshipping giant portraits of Hu Jintao, or pray to him everyday. Your sayings are moot, especially from someone who never set foot in China."
 * 4 May 2006: "The same applies to you, considering that you never set foot in China, and base all your judgments on FLG conspiracy theories."
 * PCPP
 * 21 November 2007: "Mate, have you ever set foot in China? The last thing we need is foreigners acting as if they're 'enlightened' and know everything about China."
 * 16 August 2008: "Kilgour and Matas, two Canadian politicians sponsored by Falun Gong, who never set foot in China and conducted investigations based only on circumstantial claims, were given an undue weight and has almost the entire article dedicated to them."
 * 1 November 2008: "These two were hired by the CIPFG, we don't need an essay on their entire report, especially considering that the never set foot in China and never actually proved the allegations beside a few nitpickings."
 * 15 May 2009: "A conspiracy theory claiming that the PRC is running concentration camps for FLG practitioner and harvesting their organs while alive, while over 50% of this article comes one source, David Kilgour and Matas, two FLG-sponsored politicians from Canada who never set foot in China..."
 * PatCheng stopped using the phrase after a talk page warning at on 4 May 2006, but PCPP continued the habit.  At this point, I believe the available evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that PatCheng and PCPP are the same individual, and I will be blocking the accounts shortly. —  Newslinger   talk   01:35, 28 July 2020 (UTC)


 * accounts based on behavorial evidence. —  Newslinger  talk   01:42, 28 July 2020 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Requesting CU for the connection between LucasGeorge and PatCheng, for which I see reasons after further review. LucasGeorge has just posted about possible pro-FLG sockpuppeting on AN/I and 's talkpage — possibly as a response to the earlier SPI here.

I found out that PatCheng/PCPP likely has edited logged-out with a Sydney IP. Editor interaction shows same video game and China topics as PatCheng. PatCheng told that he resides in Sydney.


 * LucasGeorge has edited two articles 1 hour and 22 hours after 60.242.159.224: 50 Cent Party & Mao's Great Famine. It could make sense that he logged in after initial edits. In Mao's Great Famine, both the IP and LucasGeorge extended critical reaction to the book.
 * LucasGeorge registered to Wikipedia to nominate articles by for deletion. PatCheng's sock PCPP had feuded with Arilang1234. PCPP had reported him to AN/I (Jan 2011 thread).
 * FWIW, LucasGeorge also has a CamelCase username and shares the same POV about China, FLG, Mao Zedong. PCPP removed information about the criticism of the Confucius Institute; LucasGeorge argued to "simplify" the criticism. PatCheng added criticism of the book Mao: The Unknown Story, as did LucasGeorge etc.
 * PatCheng axed a section about a "CBC incident" from The Epoch Times citing WP:UNDUE: . After he was topic-banned on June 30, LucasGeorge did the same, citing "undue weight":

If this is not enough to justify a check, which IMO should be done because PatCheng is not yet stale and socking in the FLG discretionary topic area should be minimized, I have a tiny bit of off-site evidence which I can email if needed. Pudeo (talk) 16:48, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

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

The evidence shown by Pudeo also seems persuasive to me, — Paleo Neonate  – 17:48, 5 August 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Between and ; the behavioral evidence puts it closer to likely -- Guerillero  &#124;  Parlez Moi  03:42, 5 August 2020 (UTC)
 * by . LucasGeorge appealed the block at, and I declined the unblock request per off-wiki evidence, which I am able to provide to any reviewing administrator via email. —  Newslinger  talk   08:52, 5 August 2020 (UTC)
 * —  Newslinger  talk   05:27, 6 August 2020 (UTC)