Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Papaursa

– This SPI case is closed and will be archived shortly by an SPI clerk or checkuser.

Papaursa

Papaursa (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

For archived investigations, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Papaursa/Archive.

08 June 2012

Suspected sockpuppets

• Mdtemp (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• Astudent0 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

• User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Both users seem to do nothing except vote to delete martial arts articles. They both vote exactly the same, and in almost all of the same articles. Astudent0 created his/her account in 2010 and immediately began voting in deletion discussions to delete martial arts pages (which is an odd way to start editing on Wikipedia), and Mdtemp created his/her account in 2011 and started voting in the SAME articles as Astudent0 in the same way, from then all the way up to now. Their user contributions are almost identical. I think Astudent0 may actually even be an alternate account as well because who starts editing by voting in afd discussions? But I have no evidence of that particular claim. So this is about Mdtemp being a sock of Astudent0.

In addition to that, the dates of their user contributions seem to be very similar. For example, on the first page of their most recent user contributions, Astudent0 had a 7 day break between May 9 to May 16. Mdtemp had a 7 day break from May 11 to May 18, and on the day before their 7 day break, they voted on the same two articles for deletion in the same exact order. Also, Astudent0 hasn't made a contribution since May 17, and Mdtemp hasn't made a contribution since May 21. So not only are the articles they contribute to extremely similar, and the way they vote is exactly the same, but the timing of their contributions is very similar.

And one more point I'd like to make. Their user pages are eerily similar. Astudent0's user page is blank other than text that reads: "I am interested in martial arts and have done amateur MMA. As I enter the real world I expect to have far less time to devote to Wikipedia, so my contributions will probably become much rarer.". Mdtemp's user page is blank except for text that reads: "I'm an MMA fan that believes Wikipedia should be just for notable things--not a repository for everything."

I just notice a lot of similarities and it seems to be too much for coincidence. Gamezero05 06:56, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

I've added a request and endorsed the use of WP:Checkuser to see if there is a technical connection between these two and possibly others. It will be up to the Checkuser themselves to determine if it should be done. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 13:21, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

One other thing that I just realized is that I made a stupid sockpuppet investigation on May 20th here: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mtking. I realize now how I was fooled and how that investigation was ludicrous, but Astudent0 and Mdtemp were included in that investigation. However, due to the rediculousness of the investigation as a whole, it wasn't looked into more. And if you notice, the accounts Astudent0 and Mdtemp haven't been used since that sockpuppet investigation. So that leads me to believe whoever is controlling those accounts realized that people were possibly "onto him" and he decided to either ditch those accounts or wait a while before using them again. Gamezero05 20:44, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

• Comment - I may have found another user that may actually be the puppet master. User_talk:Papaursa is another user with almost the exact same edits on the exact same pages. This account was created in 2009. The dates of the edits are also similar. Gamezero05 20:54, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Comments by other users

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

• It would be interesting to find out why the last CU at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Papaursa/Archive was  Unlikely, has something changed ? Mtking ^(edits) 08:06, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

• Not Sockpuppets Please note that these users participated in the WikiProject Martial arts article review in 2010 Wikipedia:WikiProject_Martial_arts/Article_Review where a backlog of MA articles with questionable notability were review and many deleted. This could account for the similar statistics. The above link can be followed to view a sample of their comments on article deletions. I believe them not to be sock puppets but rather just of similar philosophy. jmcw (talk) 09:48, 9 June 2012 (UTC)
  • Ditto on the above comment - based on writing style and comments I really don't think they are the same. The martial arts AfD nominations have been pretty good with respect to targeting problematic articles so the statistic quoted reflect the keep/delete record rather than similar views of comments. Of course we could just ask them.Peter Rehse (talk) 03:17, 10 June 2012 (UTC)

• • We didn't find the prior SPI until last night, when we swapped out the Master for this check (Papaursa was added late in the SPI, as a sock instead of a master). It doesn't change the results of this CU, but I've asked another Checkuser, DQ to take a look and he has agreed to. He has seen the last CU results as well, and this should shed some light. (My mistake, he isn't a CU and didn't see the previous results) The current CU results that shows them all in the exact same geographical area, the number of "coincidences" pushes the meaning of the word to the breaking point. I've done a great deal of technical comparisons that likely were not done last SPI as well, including time of day comparisons. If the current CU holds, it is difficult not to draw conclusions here. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 10:57, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

•  Clerk endorsed - I see 95 common articles between Astudent0 and Mdtemp, over 90 of them AFDs. Astudent0 record [1] of voting at AFDs is 87.7% (213) to delete, 5.3% (13) to keep. Mdtemp's record [2] is 89.8% (97) to delete and 1.9% (2) to keep, and accounting for time, is consistent. Also considering that Mdtemp has participated in 110 AFDs, including 91 that Astudent0 has participated in. Astuden0 has participated in a whopping 542 AFDs, but has been here longer. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it does look meaty or socky or something, and there are some similarities in style. I would support a closer look with a check for other accounts as well, considering both the coincidences here and the long and thick history of sockpuppetry at MMA discussions in general. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 13:19, 8 June 2012 (UTC)
•  Clerk note: Papaursa has 648 AFD votes, 86% delete, and 494 common articles with alleged puppet master. 3063 total edits. Didn't compare styles, only statistics. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 21:01, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

 Possible on all three counts. Although they all edit from the same city, there is no direct overlap. However, Mdtemp is  Unlikely: although he is from the same city, his ISP is different. These may be three people with the same interests, although I don't think so. AGK [•] 23:51, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

• • Mdtemp seems to edit primarily 15:00 to 22:00 UTC. Papaursa is mainly after 19:00 to 3:00 UTC. Astudent0 edits mainly from 12:00 to 18:00 UTC. I don't want to say this looks like school, home and work, but it could be school, home and work. That would explain the different ISPs. This is still ducky to me, would have to test overlaps a bit to call it. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 00:18, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

 Completed I have labored over this for days, consulted two Checkusers, other editors previously involved, and have poured over reams of contribs going back a couple of years. It is very, very possible for all three of these to be the same person: Singular focus, the time of day that edits are made line up without conflict, and the number of "coincidences" are too much to ignore, added to the fact that all three edit from the exact same geolocation, even if on different IPs. If I were to be a sockpuppet with the goal of getting away with it, this is a textbook example of how to do it right. But in this case, there is just enough ancillary evidence to show reasonable doubt, so I can't take action at this time. My educated guess is that there is a high likelihood of coordination between the users, perhaps off-wiki, which is a bit beyond the scope of this WP:SPI, but doesn't bar further action by any administrator should they decide to block these users. You might note this decision [3] if they all !vote in a single discussion. This should not be seen as proof that they aren't connected, but rather an inability to definitively connect the accounts at this time, after an exhaustive investigation. Dennis Brown - 2¢ © 13:03, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

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