Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Wildlover22

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Wildlover22

Wildlover22 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
Populated account categories: confirmed · suspected

02 May 2024[edit]

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

Suspected sockpuppets[edit]

Wildlover22 was blocked from the mainspace (by me) in September 2022 for disruptive editing, mainly involving WP:NOTHERE responses to objections to changing WP:NOTBROKEN links, but previous warnings had involved things like unattributed copying across pages and lack of citations. This was followed by a large amount of IP block evasion targeting the same set of topics (anime, Japanese era names, Japanese feudal domains, public nudity) before the editor came back as EleventhBrother26.5 in June 2023 and was immediately blocked due to a heads up from Sjones23, as noted at User talk:Dekimasu/Archive1#Sailor Moon block evader (warning, large archive). At this time I suggested taking the standard offer. However, IP block evasion continued from two geographically distinct regions until the appearance of Robotlover27 in mid-April. Robotlover27 targeted the same set of topics, particularly anime and Japanese feudal domains. After I blocked Robotlover27, "Robotlover26" appeared on my talk page to tell me that Wildlover22 was retiring and "you'll never have to be sockpuppetry on the other user pages that belonged to Wildlover22's". Like previous socks, comments included references to Portuguese. IP socking did resume after this as well.

A few days ago, a note was left at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan#Help with sources about a number of suspicious new page creations appearing to rely on the same set of offline, Japanese-language sources. I was quickly able to determine that the page creations are all machine translations (unmarked direct translations from the Japanese Wikipedia, with inaccuracies), and the sources do not support the content in some or all cases. I suggested that WP:TNT may apply to articles created by the Exam26 account. However, the topics of these articles are all Japanese feudal domains and minor Japanese aristocrats. The Exam26 account creating these pages has avoided most identifying interactions other than adding direct machine translations and avoids using telling edit summaries, but the userpage reflects an informal English style similar to the previous socks, and the extremely rare interest in Japanese feudal domains and the timeline directly overlap with the previous sock and sock IPs (more information on IPs available if requested, will avoid identifying information here but my edit history should make the links clear). The timecards also match between Wildlover22 and Exam26, and both accounts are very unlikely to reply to messages on their user talk pages, including warnings.

It appears the "retirement" note from "Robotlover26" was based on confidence that the "Exam26" account had successfully evaded scrutiny by focusing on page creations (rather than reverts) and avoiding editing the same pages as the previous socks. Since this is diff-light, I'll also note that the numbers used in the usernames follow a similar pattern linked to the date of account creation. The Exam26 articles will likely all need to be cleaned up and/or deleted as copyvios, but this can be handled more efficiently under G5 once the link is established here and additional sleeper accounts appear to be possible. Dekimasuよ! 05:29, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users[edit]

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments[edit]

  • From a purely technical perspective, the two Robotlovers are  Possilikely (a mix between possible and likely) to each other, and Exam26 is  Possible. The technical data here is a bit odd. I'd recommend relying on behaviour. Spicy (talk) 17:55, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thanks. I am going to block on the basis of both the above and some new technical and behavioral information. I have identified at least two IPs clearly used by Exam26 while logged out, and they geolocate to the particular side of the exact metro area I expected. These are different /16s from the /16s (and IP64s) usually used by Wildlover22, so I am not surprised the technical data was inconclusive, but the commuting area is the same.
One of the IPs added a link to Ōgakishinden Domain to the List of han article two days before that article was created by Exam26. The previous edit to that page was Exam26 adding links to other domains. Exam26 began to translate the article on Ōgakishinden Domain on his userpage the next day. There are other links between Exam26 and this IP at the deleted edit history of Help talk:Nariwa Domain, a page Exam26 later moved things back and forth over in an apparent attempt to muddy the waters. Anyway, this IP address used the edit summary "unfinished" when editing one of the Japanese feudal domains on January 12. Exam26 used the edit summary "unfinished edit" on a different domain the same day, and over a dozen other times on similar edits such as this edit to the userpage (which was being used as a sandbox before pasting completed translations to the mainspace). Exam26 avoids using talk pages and other places where original writing is required, like Wildlover22. However, of the six talk messages in Wildlover22's 3000 edits, the final unblock request read "My reason is that I have unfinished business to do". Meanwhile, other IP addresses used for socking in the past have frequently used edit summaries like "not finished", including at List of Inuyasha characters and Dark Kingdom, both of which were revisited by Robotlover27 last month. (These IPs also match Robotlover26 and Wildlover22 in frequent references to Portuguese.)
The second IP was revealed in the edit history of one of the domains due to having edited the page less than a minute before Exam26 moved the article back to mainspace, so it left a message on Exam26's user talk reading "Hello user, I just edited the article and removed unnecessary information from there." However, it's on the same /16 as the first IP. It's possible that the Exam26 account could have been created in the other geographical region. An IP sock from the other geographical region overlaps with Exam26 at, for example, Kishū Domain.
If any substantive objection to the block is raised, it's likely Exam26 will anyway end up at ANI promptly for sham sourcing and copyright violations, but this should render that unnecessary. Dekimasuよ! 22:14, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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