Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Surfer-boy94

User:Surfer-boy94

 * Suspected sockpuppeteer


 * Suspected sockpuppets
 * additions:

— Hello, Control Hello, Tony  18:54, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Report submission by


 * Evidence
 * Surfer-boy94 adds (then edits) a comment to a closed AfD (diff 04:23, 21 April 2008; diff 04:24, 21 April 2008) which is removed one minute later by Motion-In-The-Ocean (diff 04:25, 21 April 2008)


 * Both users appear to have edited from the same ISP (AAPT in Australia):
 * IP edits Surfer-boy94's user page, adding a template Surfer-boy94 created to his "Articles I Created" list (diff 12:32, 24 March 2008)
 * IP !votes in an AfD (diff 13:41, 25 April 2008); signature changed by Motion-In-The-Ocean one minute later (diff 13:42, 25 April 2008)


 * Multiple instances of !vote-stacking in AfDs (when there is more than one edit in the same AfD, I've only included the first by each editor):
 * Surfer-boy94 (diff 05:59, 22 January 2008) / Motion-In-The-Ocean diff 06:26, 22 January 2008)
 * Note that this is Motion-In-The-Ocean's very first edit—!voting "keep" in an AfD for an article created by Surfer-boy94
 * Surfer-boy94 (diff 08:02, 14 April 2008) / Motion-In-The-Ocean (diff 05:05, 15 April 2008)
 * Note that Motion-In-The-Ocean copy-and-pasted Surfer-boy94's signature but initially forgot to change the timestamp, returning to fix it (diff 05:06, 15 April 2008)
 * Surfer-boy94 (diff 12:34, 25 April 2008) / Motion-In-The-Ocean (diff 13:04, 25 April 2008)
 * Surfer-boy94 (diff 12:37, 25 April 2008) / Motion-In-The-Ocean (diff 13:42, 25 April 2008)
 * As noted above, in this instance the second !vote was by an IP, then the signature was changed by Motion-In-The-Ocean.


 * Piece-of-Me-08, Insomniatic_999, and Motion-In-The-Ocean were all created the same day within an 18-minute period (06:06, 22 January 2008, 06:15, 22 January 2008, 06:24, 22 January 2008) and all made their first non-userspace edits !voting in the same AfD—for an article created by Surfer-boy94 (06:11, 22 January 2008, 06:17, 22 January 2008, 06:26, 22 January 2008, ). Exclusive 474 was created the following day (00:38, 23 January 2008), and while the user did not head directly to the AfD, the user made 7 clearly experienced edits (one edit summary indicating that the editor is in Australia ) before !voting at the AfD 02:51, 23 January 2008. (this bullet point added 11:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC))


 * I won't bother going into the more circumstantial evidence like editing and writing style as I feel this is more than enough proof.


 * Comments
 * May also want to take a look at User:Piece-of-Me-08. - eo (talk) 00:49, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Good call. Ugh, looks like and, too. It's worse than I thought. Guess I need a checkuser, too. — Hello, Control  Hello, Tony  01:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Surfer-boy94 has claimed on my talk page (part 2) that Exclusive 474 is his brother, Motion-In-The-Ocean is his cousin (who only edits when he is at Surfer-boy94's house), and Piece-of-Me-08 is his "best mate". He claims to not know who Insomniatic_999 is. — Hello, Control Hello, Tony  11:50, 26 April 2008 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, I have dealt with Exclusive474 and Surfer-boy94, and believe the claim that they are distinct people, even if they share an IP address. Both of them have shown to be responsive to correction ... if I point out the reason that I have reverted or changed one of their edits, they understand and comply in the future.
 * My recommendation is a meat-puppeting warning: explaining that if they both have an interest in an AFD or similar discussion, that their relationship makes them suspect, and, in general, only one of them should comment. If they feel compelled to comment on the same thing, they should be explicit about their relationship.Kww (talk) 14:51, 26 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Checkuser has confirmed all of the accounts, and identified an additional one: Girls alouds biggest fan. I would be inclined to believe that both he and his brother edit, but Surfer-boy94 was not forthright about everything, disclaiming knowledge of Insomniatic_999 and not bringing up Girls alouds biggest fan. Either the bulk of the accounts are sockpuppets or they're meatpuppets. I don't know what to recommend—stretching good faith to its limits, I would say that publicizing their relationships to each other on their user pages should be mandatory, as well as forbidding future participation in any consensus discussions or contentious edits by more than one of the group. It would appear that all of the accounts need close monitoring (some more than others) and make similar disruptive edits/errors. There are good edits by all, for sure, but the question is whether the good outweighs the bad. — Hello, Control Hello, Tony  16:03, 26 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Surfer-boy94 Has claimed that his "inexperienced" family are editing wikipedia. I am inclined to agree with him in part however I am worried this may be a cover story? I recommend that, as he is new to wikipedia, all of the accounts be cautioned, and asked to give evidence that they are not sockpuppets. I'm not sure if this will work, but it's my only suggestion. If this is sockpuppetry, then I would recommend an infefenite block, at least, until an agreement can be reached. Britishrailclass91 (talk) 16:38, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't really see how you can get them to prove that they are not sockpuppets? As far as I'm concerned (given my comments below), these sockpuppets were originally created to try and influence an AFD, and it seems highly suspicious to me that that is their only purpose. An indefinite block on the socks and a temporary block on Surfer-boy94 is my suggestion.  [Jam] [talk] 16:46, 26 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I think that the AFD for "Vanessa Hudgens Second Studio Album" clearly shows how these sockpuppets arose. Given that new sockpuppets have been identified (following the Checkuser), it clearly shows that some of these accounts were created merely to try and influence that AFD (Piece-of-Me-08 was created only a few minutes before it voted on the AFD; same with Motion-In-The-Ocean). I personally feel satisfied that this is a clear case of sockpuppetry to influence AFD voting (despite, it appears, the various sockpuppets voting against each other!)  [Jam] [talk] 16:43, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, they all !voted the same but Surfer-boy94 changed his !vote towards the end of the AfD. — Hello, Control Hello, Tony  17:10, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the heads up there - I thought it was a bit odd that Surfer had a different vote to the rest.  [Jam] [talk] 17:14, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * OK, now this new development really stretches the limits of credulity. I say stern warning to Surfer-boy94 and block all the rest. And that's my final answer. — Hello, Control Hello, Tony  12:17, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I think I'm quite inclined to agree with you there.  [Jam] [talk] 12:32, 27 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Conclusions

Works for me. All socks blocked, main account warned. GBT/C 17:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)