Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Timothyhere/Archive

31 October 2012

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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I don't know the details but Timothyhere was blocked by a checkuser. Less then 3 weeks later, Iowafromiowa shows up, bluelinks their user page with a native speaker template (more or less the same thing that Timothyhere did ). Both quickly end up in the RD and ITN/C. I noticed today Iowafromiowa asking a very similar question to one asked before by Timothyhere. Both seem to share an interest in ‎Cory Monteith (plenty more similar stuff from Timothyhere) and  (2 more minor edits from Iowafromiowa). There are probably most similarities but considering the historic problems with Timothyhere whatever they are hopefully this is enough. Nil Einne (talk) 17:23, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

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 * Good catch; the two accounts are a ✅ match. Salvio  Let's talk about it! 22:12, 31 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Blocked and tagged, marking for close. Jafeluv (talk) 07:43, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

28 February 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Kotjap, a regular of the RD has been viewed with suspicion for a while including suggestions they were a sockpuppet of Timothyhere. They claim to be from Japan but have an interest in stuff in Canada, particularly terrorism which was also an interest of Timothyhere. (They also like to ask questions about terrorism in general again something Timothyhere did.) They also have an interest in ITN (plenty more in their contribs) another favourite hangout of Timothyhere   (plenty more in both histories). They also have an apparent obsession with WW2 particularly Nazis and Nazism  again shared by Timothyhere. Oh and if that's not enough, the reason I finally decided to open the case they recently asked a similar question asked by Timothyhere. And when opening this case I noticed they gave away their interest in Cody Monteith very early on (shared interest established in a previous case). I've requested a checkuser, I don't know if it will help much, IIRC Timothyhere usually waits until being blocked before starting a new identity. But I'm not sure and I think they're trying to get caught suggesting they're giving up this identity so may be they got a head start. N.B. When I say Timothyhere I'm including previous established sockpuppets. Nil Einne (talk) 14:12, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

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 * - A few of the previously confirmed socks edited within the last 3 months, so not everything is stale, and maybe a CU can find something useful. — Rich wales (no relation to Jimbo) 15:31, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ plus . is similar to previous usernames and is ✅. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 15:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
 * All blocked and tagged. Jafeluv (talk) 07:55, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

01 March 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets


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See below. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:32, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

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 * Per a request on my talk page, here are a bunch of new ✅ socks:
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 17:35, 1 March 2013 (UTC)


 * All tagged now. Jafeluv (talk) 19:00, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

08 March 2013

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After Kotjap who I reported in the most recent case about a week ago was blocked, at least two obvious quacking socks came up. One was blocked after I reported to User:DoRD who did the last checkuser. Another was abandoned after I and others reverted their contribs per WP:Deny. Now FMicronesian appers claiming to be from Federated States of Micronesia, proudly declaring their country and love for it in nearly every comment  and on their user page. This isn't unreasonable except for the fact Kotjap was doing something similar. The most obvious connection is asking questions about the connection between their 'my country' (Japan/Micronesia) and the US. Since the quacking isn't quite so obvious this time I feel a checkuser to confirm would be best, and it may also mop up other socks. Unfortunately history suggests if not blocked or completely ignored, they're just going to ask more and more ridiculous questions with more quacking. And I don't think they're likely to be completely ignored as their current questions are reasonable. 16:01, 8 March 2013 (UTC) Nil Einne (talk) 16:01, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit: Whether because of this case I don't know but they've now reverted to more obvious trolling like more questions about serial killers (see previous cases). Nil Einne (talk) 18:48, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

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 * Here he admits to it. That, along with his threat to create more socks, suggests (1) the checkuser should do a "sweep" for socks; (2) if the user has a fixed IP or range, that should be blocked as well; (3) the sockmaster should be banned (if he isn't already), which will have the effect of making all of his junk removeable on sight. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:39, 10 March 2013 (UTC)


 * And here, seconds before he was indef'd, he claims to have created 10 other socks. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:49, 10 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I've blocked User:FMicronesian because they quacked. From what Baseball Bugs has said above though, I would also suggest running a check to ensure there are no sleepers.--5 albert square (talk) 17:52, 10 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I do have to say I think a check user for other socks is warranted and an IP address block not unwarranted. This user is prolific, and he diff promising he understands policy [diff 20 minutes later violating same policy bites the AGF hands that feed him. [[User:Medeis|μηδείς]] (talk) 01:05, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - - Based on all the above evidence, requesting checkuser to look for sleepers and block the range if possible. Someguy1221 (talk) 09:19, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ plus:
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Socks bagged and tagged by DoRD. NativeForeigner Talk 21:05, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

16 March 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Posting questions to incite debate at RefDesks. Questions focus on Japan and N Korea. No edits other than to the RefDesk. MO is identical to User:Kotjap. (I hope I've got this right - this is my first SPI request, so I'm following Nil Einne's instructions here. Thanks for your understanding!) Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:14, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Sure. Apologies for not doing so before. Humanities RefDesk - Japan and N Korea relations, Humanities RefDesk - Why do China and North Korea hate us?. I believe this is typical of a Timothyhere sock - posting almost exclusively to the RefDesk or the Help Desk, with the aim of causing debate and/or argument. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:59, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Please see also that the user himself has just posted with some interesting thoughts on Wikipedia policy: - Cucumber Mike (talk) 17:03, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

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Could you please include at least one diff from Kotjap as an example of how their behaviour overlaps? Thanks. WilliamH (talk) 16:41, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hyerotaku's edits are disruptive trolling. I have issued a warning, irrespective of this investigation, that I will block them if they continue.--Bbb23 (talk) 17:15, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks, ✅, as are
 * WilliamH (talk) 17:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * WilliamH (talk) 17:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * WilliamH (talk) 17:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
 * WilliamH (talk) 17:17, 16 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Blocked and tagged, closing. Rschen7754 18:34, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

18 April 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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This account edits almost exclusively at the Reference Desks. The account has been asking questions about race and ethnicity, often including questions about Israel and Islam, for quite a while, but has now strayed into territory favoured by Timothyhere's socks. In particular the patterns of questions asked strongly resemble those of User:Kotjap. For example: Checkuser is requested since experience shows there will be other accounts around as well. The postings at the reference desks have become disruptive as they incite debate in ways which can be taken as racist or homophobic. Other accounts have also shown a tendency to incite ever more heated debate. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:43, 18 April 2013 (UTC) Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:43, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Stephen Harper's views on Islam: Kotjap, Donmust90
 * Homosexuality in Islamic countries: Previous sock Iowafromiowa - Donmust90 as above link
 * Israeli foreign relations: Iowafromiowa, Donmust90

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 * Um, no, this isn't Timothyhere. DonMust has been here for years, and any refdesk regular should recognize him.  He only recently started using a username, relatively speaking, but DonMust has been asking these questions, often in good faith, for many years.  He does have a rather limited pallate with which he paints his questions, in the past mostly questions about simple demographic data which he should easily be able to look up (How many XXXX live in XXXX country, repeated ad-nauseum with subtle variations), but he absolutely isn't Timothyhere.  His latest questions may be a bit more provocative, but they are actually a somewhat helpful diversion from his normal tactics.  You can find evidence of his prior IP addresses in the archives if you start looking before he registered this account, it isn't hard he's been quite prolific, but I am confident that DonMust is not Timothere, or really anyone of our usual refdesk trolls.  -- Jayron  32  20:22, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * We still seem to be getting a very bizarre and specific overlap of questions about Island nations' support for Israel and so forth. Something stinks, even if I can't tell what exactly it smells like. μηδείς (talk) 20:39, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I must say, Jayron, I had been inclined to agree with you up until today. I admit that I've 'had my eye' on Donmust for a while, since he seemed to be more interest in stirring up debate than asking genuinely useful questions, but nonetheless I was AGFing and assuming he was simply misguided. However, today's question revealing the old fascination with Steven Harper has brought me here. Frankly, I hope that you're right, and that Donmust's name is cleared once and for all, but, as I think Medeis would agree, there's something odd going on here. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 20:51, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Disruptive editting and BLP issues are a separately addressable issue. Nevertheless, I am curious if the negative result positively disproves proxy IP usage? μηδείς (talk) 21:38, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * The edits were not made through any sort of proxy. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 21:45, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Interesting to know you can detect that. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 22:01, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * It's not him - wrong continent, wrong device. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 21:28, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Ok, that's good. Thanks for your attention. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 21:35, 18 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Closing per result and Jayron's statement. -- DQ on the road   (ʞlɐʇ)  21:41, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

14 June 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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While the evidence is not that strong yet, it seems very likely this is Timothyhere again. As shown by the older cases (see the archives or for example Special:Contributions/I_Kiribati_Islander), Kiribati is one of the places Timothyhere liked to claim to be from and with a population of only about 100k and limited internet access, it's naturally suspicious when someone shows up claiming to be from there. The fact that they name themselves after the country and declare so in their questions on the RD, both of which are fairly rare (sadly even when it matters, most editors leave us guessing where they're from) is fairly suspect considering it's the sort of thing Timothyhere likes to do. Also, while Ich bin ein Berliner may have somewhat popularised 'Ich bin', I'm not sure how likely it is to be known to someone in Kiribati let alone to be something they would use. (Timothyhere appears to use an Argentinian IP but they are fairly well informed and they have a fixation on Germany or at least Nazi Germany.) Requesting a CU regardless of any block because history has shown with Timothyhere where there's smoke, there's usually fire i.e. a whole bunch of sleepers. Nil Einne (talk) 06:53, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

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 * ✅ along with . ​—DoRD (talk)​ 11:48, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Blocked, closing. King of &hearts;   &diams;   &clubs;  &spades; 05:26, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

22 June 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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LoweIan appears to have been this editors last ditch hurrah at asking about Kiribati albeit wanting to visit rather then being from there. After that they seemed to have moved on to asking about other countries, however both the later socks follow the common practice of declaring where they're from in their username. The second sock follows a common pattern of asking about how to do something about 'my country' [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities&diff=prev&oldid=560770173] as with the recent country choosing a developing country with a very low internet penetration probably intentionally (also a recent pattern albeit only one I remember seeing with IPs of saying to delete their questions [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities&diff=prev&oldid=560771099]), the third sock the common pattern of asking about random Nazis [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Humanities&diff=prev&oldid=560810551]. All of these appear to primary be throw away accounts, I was planning to leave these be since I'm not sure if I'm helping but I'm opening this because I have the nasty feeling there is a new sleeper who is bothering the help desk and elsewhere with more serious stuff. The linkage is weaker so I'm not listing it here which may mean it's less likely to be caught, but the history suggests even if I'm wrong about this specific account, there will probably be other accounts would be helpful. Nil Einne (talk) 18:54, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

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Blocked, tagged.&mdash;Kww(talk) 00:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 * All ✅ plus . ​—DoRD (talk)​ 19:41, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

16 October 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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The user calls himself Hijo de Tenerife, literally "Son of Tenerife", Tenerife being the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands.


 * The fixation on islands and the self-naming based on a supposed geolocation being a frequent motif of User:Timothyhere's socks, per archived discussion.

User:FMicronesian User:I Kiribati User:I Kiribati Islander User:IchbinKiribatisch User:Inkiribati User:Iowafromiowa User:Jimfromtoronto User:Keithkentucky User:Kenkentucky User:Kentuckyyy User:Kiribati I   User:Kiribbati User:KKiribati User:Koreanpeace User:Kotjap User:Martyrofus User:Newhampshiree User:Newyorkboyy User:Nigerien not Nigerian User:Okklahoma User:Oklahomacitizen User:Oklahomacooper User:Oklahomann User:Oklahomma User:RandallfromMS User:TImfromoklahoma User:Ukboyy


 * He has been fixated on another small island, Socotra, saying he wanted to visit there, (again, see above from previous archived discussions) and making speculative arguments about its government.

The user has a brief contribution history, yet:


 * He began last month immediately with contributions to the ref desk as his first ever edit.
 * His second ever edit was to the ref desk archives.
 * He quickly filed a vandalism complain against User:Richard Avery, who had criticized him.

The behavioural evidence is quite significant. Rather than ask for a summary block, I am requesting an SPI.

Pinging:,,, μηδείς (talk) 03:06, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

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Thanks to Medeis for this report and Jayron32 for the block. It did seem there was something weird with this editor early on, and once the Socotra thing came up I began to definitely think Timothyhere too. Although since they weren't claiming to be from Socotra and while their username seem a little weird, I didn't realise what it meant I missed that final link in the chain. Nil Einne (talk) 16:21, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * I've declined the CU request. Per the archives, there are no non-stale puppets to compare the new one against.--Bbb23 (talk) 04:05, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
 * . -- Jayron 32 11:53, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Closing. Mike V • Talk 01:51, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

21 October 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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Based on writing style when asking questions at WP:RD, timing of when the account was created, and a preternatural interest in the disposition of the last Timothyhere sock (see here. This seems a likely match. Since we have a very recent blocked account (the last one, User:Hijodetenerife) to connect this one to, can we get a checkuser to see if my Spidey-Sense is accurate on this?  Thanks!  -- Jayron 32 15:24, 21 October 2015 (UTC)  Jayron 32 15:24, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

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. This may take a while as your spidey sense has uncovered quite a bunch of spider eggs.--Bbb23 (talk) 16:00, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * The following accounts are ✅ to each other:
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * With the exception of two accounts that were already blocked, I blocked the others. I tagged/retagged all. Closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:02, 21 October 2015 (UTC)