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NormalguyfromUK

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

23 June 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Sock recreating the deleted works of the master. UtherSRG (talk) 15:34, 23 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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23 June 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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obvious behavioral sock - early edit overlap on obscure article after sockmaster blocked https://sigma.toolforge.org/editorinteract.py?users=Andrewtopg&users=NormalguyfromUK&users=&startdate=&enddate=&ns=&server=enwiki https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_German_uprising_of_1953&diff=prev&oldid=1161263064 is a INFOBOX edit which is NormalguyfromUK's favourite gnoming.

creation of tendentious Albanian article https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Operation_Breakthrough_(Military_Invasion)&action=history with magic instant editing of a draft article from Based.shqiptar.frompirok (these socks/meat puppets usually claim to be following each other so they find drafts, but there's no excuse for Based.shqiptar.frompirok to have found this so quickly)

Immediate alibi/ Excuse set up for meat puppetry/IP sharing - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Andrewtopg&diff=prev&oldid=1161439034 Awlof (talk) 20:41, 23 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to the extremely obvious naming similarities, Based.shqiptar.frompirok has now recreated as draft 1949_Anglo-American_invasion_of_Communist_Albania https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:1949_Anglo%E2%80%93American_invasion_of_Communist_Albania&action=history. This is NormalguyfromUK's preferred name for Operation Valuable and some of the last actions of NGfUK were undiscussed moves of that page https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Valuable&diff=prev&oldid=1160443046 to the title now being created, as well as earlier undicsussed moves to this title in March https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Valuable&diff=prev&oldid=1147547886
There are large cut and pastes being made into the draft from Operation Valuable source- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:1949_Anglo%E2%80%93American_invasion_of_Communist_Albania&diff=prev&oldid=1163993258
There are the same extremely obscure additions being made to the new infobox - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:1949_Anglo%E2%80%93American_invasion_of_Communist_Albania&diff=prev&oldid=1163996942 - that NGfUK was making to Operation Valuable back in March https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Valuable&diff=prev&oldid=1147352075 Guavausher (talk) 17:05, 7 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Special:Contributions/37.245.41.140 is an IP sock of User:Orchomen. Mztourist (talk) 06:55, 10 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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07 July 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Hello. I'm not completely sure which account is the sockmaster but I am confident all three are run by the same individual. Fantasticer was indefinitely banned today. I had reverted an edit this user made earlier today as it was an unsourced addition and came with an oddly threatening edit summary. Three hours later, AcEagle12 restored the edit albeit with "sources" but then promptly self-reverted with another strange edit summary. Both accounts have edited exclusively on the same topics.

NormalguyfromUK (originally Albanian 7) was indefinitely banned a few weeks ago. This user's first block was on 30 January 2023. The AcEagle12 account was created on that day and edited the same talkpage.

NormalguyfromUK and Fantasticer are already indefinitely blocked but AcEagle12 is not and is now apparently going to be more active, given today's edits including the creation of a sandbox. I'm not sure whether or not CheckUser is needed here.

Thank you. --Local hero talk 17:12, 7 July 2023 (UTC) --Local hero talk 17:12, 7 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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08 July 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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New account immediately editing Albanian People's Army and adding obscure Albanian sources [1] and the usual greater glory of Albania POV [2]

This page is a favourite of NormalguyfromUK and the Based.shqiptar.frompirok sock. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albanian_People%27s_Army&action=history.

Like both NormalguyfromUK and Based.shqiptar.frompirok, GokuRose likes to use "improved/improvement" in edit summaries

GokuRose

NGfUK

BShfP

On wikimedia commons GokuRose uploaded this file at 17.11 on 7 July *https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Collage_from_the_1949_Anglo_American_invasion_of_Communist_Albania.jpg

Only five minutes later At 17.16 on 7 July Based.shqiptar.frompirok added the file to their current recreation of NormalguyfromUK's repeated attempted page move at 1949 Anglo–American invasion of Communist Albania

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12 July 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Confirmed. Split from Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Illyrian5999 (Special:Permalink/1160612526). MarioGom (talk) 22:22, 12 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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19 July 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Let me start by saying that User:KleovoulosT was indefinitely blocked some days ago, on 14 July (block log). Now, the account was created on 12 June 2023 (CA), which is only a week after User:NormalguyfromUK was caught socking. Even though not much time has elapsed, three more accounts have been confirmed as sockpuppets of User:NormalguyfromUK since then, which shows that they continue to be active. User:KleovoulosT doesn't have many contributions (only 12), but the few they have are in the same topic area as those of User:NormalguyfromUK; namely military incidents involving ethnic Albanians. Furthermore, they were both interested in the casualties of the 2022–2023 North Kosovo crisis; see diff1 and diff2. If there is indeed a relationship, i don't think CU will provide certain confirmation, because it has already been used a number of times since 12 June; however, i don't know exactly how the tool works, and whether an account could pass undetected in the case that special focus wasn't given by the checkuser.

User:Illirus was created six days ago, on 13 July (CA), and has been editing in the same topic area as User:NormalguyfromUK. Their very first edit was to revert (diff) an IP's contribution from the beginning of the month (diff), by reinstating the phrase "Many were killed or captured" in an infobox of Albanian–Yugoslav conflict; the phrase was originally added by User:NormalguyfromUK when they created the article (diff). Even though only six days have elapsed since the creation of User:Illirus, there is already overlap in eight pages that were also edited by User:NormalguyfromUK. Even more interesting, 18 out of the 26 total edits made by User:Illirus are in those eight pages (EIA). Demetrios1993 (talk) 02:07, 19 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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01 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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User:Based_Person was created on 20 July (CA), which is exactly one day after the last sockpuppets of User:NormalguyfromUK were blocked; see the case from 19 July 2023. User:Based_Person is active in the same topic area that User:NormalguyfromUK (and former socks) was active, and even though only 11 days have elapsed since the creation of the account, their activity overlaps in 14 pages with that of User:NormalguyfromUK (EIA). It's actually 15 pages, if we also include an additional page edited by User:Illirus (EIA); the last confirmed sockpuppet of User:NormalguyfromUK. Demetrios1993 (talk) 02:32, 1 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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08 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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The account was created recently on 4 August. Immediately after creation, they started editing Albanian-topic area articles (1 and 2), compatible with the sockmaster's area of interest. They also edited the article Anglo–American invasion of Communist Albania, where two blocked socks of NormalguyfromUK have also edited (Llaberia and Illirus). For me, this does not appear to be a coincidence, since the article in question (then still a draft) was not edited for almost a month (look at the gap here). With this in mind, I'd like administrators to also take note of Based.shqiptar.frompirok's behavior, since he also "coincidentally" returned to editing the article (draft) on 6 August, the same day that Christopherschweinsteiger started editing it (3). The editor is also promoting the same narrative that NormalguyfromUK was promoting about Operation Valuable (4 and 5). Thank you. EDIT: It wouldn't hurt to include this here too: Between 2000-01-01 and 2023-08-08 on en.wikipedia.org User:NormalguyfromUK (talk | contribs) and User:Christopherschweinsteiger (talk | contribs) both made edits to some pages in common. You can see a chronological list of all their edits on the Interaction Timeline or a table view on the Interaction Analyser. StephenMacky1 (talk) 14:43, 8 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The reason for my lack of editing on the page is because I was focused on other pages like the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, Liberation of Tepelena, National Liberation Army (Macedonia), Battle of Tetovo and others. + You need to remember its summer break so I have other real life things to take care of. I have that page (Anglo–American invasion of Communist Albania) on my watch list so every time someone edits it I get a notification so when Christopherschweinsteiger edited the page I remembered it and started to edit on it again. Based.shqiptar.frompirok (talk) 15:24, 8 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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11 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Checked while investigating a report at WP:RFPP. That's a lowercase L, by the way. See below. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 18:56, 11 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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All of the accounts are blocked without tags. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 18:56, 11 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Struck part of my comment above, per new findings below. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 21:59, 11 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

11 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Another new account, which was created on 9 August. Immediately after creation, they have only edited one Albanian-topic area article (diff). However like another NormalguyfromUK's sock Christopherschweinsteiger (diff), he's also promoting the same narrative about Operation Valuable and trying to influence the consensus in a deletion discussion (diff). StephenMacky1 (talk) 20:04, 11 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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  • Was already checking this related to something else. El Mangupo is  Confirmed to Pringlesringles. Also, El Mangupo is  Confirmed to Liliannnaa who in turn is  Likely to the "Based Person" group above, so you can forget what I said about them possibly being separate cases. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 21:59, 11 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

16 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Self-explanatory. Restoring NormalguyfromUK's desired version on Operation Valuable and making silly personal attacks (diff 1) and (diff 2). StephenMacky1 (talk) 16:56, 16 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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22 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Hello. I had some suspicions about the editor before, but I decided to wait and assume good faith, then I encountered this. Looks like there will be another attempt to create a POV fork article of the Operation Valuable and the editor is promoting the same narrative as NormalguyfromUK regarding this. They have also restored the POV fork article Battle of Vidohovë (created by NormalguyfromUK) on the Albanian People's Army article (diff). Apart from that, they show interest in the Albanian topic area much like NormalguyfromUK (see 1, 2 and 3). StephenMacky1 (talk) 15:05, 22 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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26 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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User:Elbasan.patriot was created just a few hours ago (CA); the last sock of User:NormalguyfromUK was blocked a few days ago, on 22 August (here). There is already overlap in three articles, where they made four out of their five edits. There are obvious similarities if you compare their contributions (EIA). As an example, both User:NormalguyfromUK (diff1, diff2) and User:Elbasan.patriot (diff) tried to present 3,000 casualties for Nazi Germany, in the article Liberation of Tirana. Demetrios1993 (talk) 03:30, 26 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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29 August 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Truth T restoring NormalguyfromUK edits:

TT - [3] NgfUK [4] also very similar edit summaries

Repeated addition of the same list of battles to infobox by all three accounts TT [5] NgfUK [6] Bsfp [7]

TT and NgfUK repeatedly making the same unsupported changes to result parameter

https://sigma.toolforge.org/timeline.py?page=Albanian_revolt_of_1911&users=Truth+t&users=NormalguyfromUK&server=enwiki

TT [8] [9] NgfUK [10] [11]

Result fiddling in favour of the Illyrians forces

TT [12] NgfUK [13]

TT also uses one of Bsfp's favourite formats here - trying to add the 'initial victory' [14] idea for the Albanians to an infobox result parameter that should just be Albanian defeat [15]


Truth T restoring Bsfp edits

Insisting on Mehmed II as a commander TT [16] Bsfp [17]

Insistence on a commander in the Greek WoI being Albanian https://sigma.toolforge.org/timeline.py?page=Markos_Botsaris&users=Based.shqiptar.frompirok&users=Truth+t&server=enwiki Also here's NgfUK making the similar changes to the name - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=1137822586 37.245.46.162 (talk) 14:09, 29 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Not unrelated to Truth t though, which he clearly is as presented here ( and behaviourally all the time) 31.218.19.163 (talk) 15:18, 29 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment by Ktrimi991:

It is hilarious because this SPI itself is a block evasion. The 2 IPs are both User:Orchomen. Orchomen, just like the IPs, edited from the UAE and reported and had conflicts with NormalguyfromUK. Ktrimi991 (talk) 16:41, 29 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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I've removed Based.shqiptar.frompirok who was found unrelated (see archive).--Bbb23 (talk) 14:22, 29 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

19 September 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Obvious sock of NGfUK, almost exclusicely editing some of the sockmasters favourite articles- https://sigma.toolforge.org/editorinteract.py?users=NormalguyfromUK&users=Nizyos&users=&startdate=&enddate=&ns=&server=enwiki

making very similar infobox changes - https://sigma.toolforge.org/timeline.py?page=Albanian_People%27s_Army&users=Nizyos&users=NormalguyfromUK&server=enwiki 2.48.56.94 (talk) 10:30, 19 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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Here he is making one of NGfUK's favourite gnoming activities - adding Albanian emblems to infoboxes - on an NGfUK created article that's otherwise only had maningful edits to the content by NGfUK and his socks. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anastas_Ngjela&diff=prev&oldid=1176243351176.204.115.35 (talk) 05:09, 21 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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19 October 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Restoring word for word edits of Nizyos, a recently blocked sock


Making result fiddles to Infoboxes - a fabvourite NgfUK activity - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_%22Edelweiss%22&diff=prev&oldid=1180568749 37.245.43.164 (talk) 09:14, 19 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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27 October 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Probable sleeper account. Clear naming similarities, mainly interested in editing infoboxes for the greater glory of Albania/the KLA per NgfUK's normal MO,

and the creation of content fork pages about Albanian battles 2.49.39.17 (talk) 04:47, 27 October 2023 (UTC) 2.49.39.17 (talk) 04:54, 27 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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Another filing by an Orchomen now-blocked IP.--Bbb23 (talk) 13:35, 27 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

29 October 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Hello. Looks like the sockpuppet tale continues. Promoting the same dubious narrative about Operation Valuable. They also restored an image collage which was created by a sockpuppet of theirs ([18]). StephenMacky1 (talk) 16:59, 29 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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01 November 2023

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Another clear behavioral sock. This one is restoring old "supported by" KLA and Bulgaria 2001 insurgency in Macedonia edits the NgfUK edit warred over back in January this year

https://sigma.toolforge.org/timeline.py?page=2001_insurgency_in_Macedonia&users=NormalguyfromUK&users=%D9%84%D9%87%D8%AB%D8%B3%D9%86&server=enwiki

Also extensively making NgfUK's usual favourite edits to add flags/shields to infoboxes

etc etc

Fiddling with result parameters as usual

etc etc 176.204.85.88 (talk) 10:34, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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User:لهثسن also reverted redirect at Second Battle of Sadakhlo, created by blocked sock User:Nugoooo: [19].
Strong edit overlap with Nugoooo: [20]Wikishovel (talk) 11:14, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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04 February 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Possible sockpuppet of the blocked editor due to the same POV additions. See 1 and 2. StephenMacky1 (talk) 15:04, 4 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Comment by Demetrios1993

I don't know if User:Nysreti1 is a sockpuppet of NormalguyfromUK or not, but I believe that the activity of numerous recently-created accounts in List of wars involving Albania, just in the past two weeks, justifies a CU check; I have been monitoring the page for some time now, and this is not normal activity. I am specifically referring to the following four red-linked accounts; though, there is also some IP activity that might be related:

Maybe User:Nysreti1 is unrelated to NormalguyfromUK, and the three other accounts are associated with the former; theirs is the only account out of the four, whose timespan exceeds two weeks, being six months old. Besides the dates of their creation, compare the contributions of the four users, who all seem to focus on the aforementioned page; almost exclusively. Demetrios1993 (talk) 14:04, 10 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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11 February 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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A random IP (5.38.104.105) has been mass reverting those two accounts' edits as being NormalguyfromUK socks, and I'm not familiar with this case but I can see the section above me has one of the accounts I'm reporting already. Requesting CU for those two accounts. LilianaUwU (talk / contributions) 03:44, 11 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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02 March 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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These three are CU-confirmed with each other (and blocked for their disruption), and they are likely socks of our guy. Drmies (talk) 03:59, 2 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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18 March 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Recreating articles created by other socks, account was created shortly after the last cleanup. Yamla (talk) 21:15, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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09 April 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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This account appears to be related to User:Based Person, a sock of NormalguyfromUK. See Based Person vs Based guyy for example. The numerous obscure article overlaps, similarity in gnoming and user names could all just be a huge coincidence/misunderstanding, and this is the kind of potential socking situation that I normally ignore. But my concern is that they are making edits (and edit warring) in the contentious WP:ARBPIA topic area, and that topic area in particular should not have any editors willing to use deception. Hence the SPI report. Sean.hoyland (talk) 04:25, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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16 April 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Hello. Based guyy was recently blocked as a sockpuppet. I think the editor is evading their block through this account (see 1 and 2 for comparison). The editor is also editing Israeli-Palestinian conflict articles, which is also what interested Based guyy before the block. StephenMacky1 (talk) 17:12, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Like StephenMacky1, and @UtoD:, I also think it's likely to be another sock. See User_talk:Sean.hoyland#Possible_sock?. Sean.hoyland (talk) 17:37, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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06 June 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Clearly Basedguyy evading block and editing articles about military conflicts (especially Macedonian and Israeli-Palestinian conflict ones). StephenMacky1 (talk) 11:47, 6 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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14 June 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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Possible sock. Requesting CU just in case. My suspicion relies on the username (which reads like a confession) and having a personal issue with me (see diff). It's uncommon for an editor to have an issue with me. StephenMacky1 (talk) 22:01, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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29 June 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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All of the reported users are relatively new, with few edits, and active in the same topic area that NormalguyfromUK was; namely military incidents involving ethnic Albanians.

The user Eternal Iliridan was created about a month ago, on 19 May 2024 (CA). Despite being very new, and with only 25 edits, there is already significant overlap to the activity of the sockmaster NormalguyfromUK (EIA). Out of the 16 pages they have edited so far, six happen to have also been edited by the latter; I didn't compare Eternal_Iliridan's activity to that of NormalguyfromUK's numerous sockpuppets, which means there is potentially more overlap. Also, they have made similar changes to the ones by NormalguyfromUK. For example:

There are some additional similarities I observed, which I can share if necessary.

The user Albanian atdhetar was registered on 3 March 2024 (CA), and there is also significant overlap to the activity of NormalguyfromUK (EIA), with 35 edits in total. Out of the 16 pages they have edited, eight have also been edited by NormalguyfromUK; again, without taking into account the latter's numerous sockpuppets. For some examples of similar changes they have made:

I am also suspicious of Binniwnl, who is a little older than the rest of the reported users; registered on 9 April 2023 (CA). Bearing in mind that CU has been used numerous times since then, I don't expect a confirmed technical connection to NormalguyfromUK (or sockpuppets); however, there might be a connection to the rest of the co-reported users, if they are themselves unrelated to NormalguyfromUK. Regardless, there is overlap and similarities to the activity of both NormalguyfromUK (EIA) and Eternal_Iliridan (EIA), with only 43 edits in total. For example:

AND

Lastly, maybe Albanianhistorian123, who is mentioned in the SPI of 4 February 2024, should also be considered for potential links; as should the similarly named – to the reported Eternal_Iliridan – Illyrian5999, whose SPI case was actually the one where NormalguyfromUK, Albanianhistorian123, and them, were identified as three distinct groups (see here). For example, Eternal_Iliridan restored an infobox (diff), that was formed by the edits of Albanianhistorian123 (diff) and NormalguyfromUK (diff1, diff2); it had been removed by an IP some months earlier. Demetrios1993 (talk) 15:11, 29 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: If you check the archives, you will see a group of "Based" usernames which might be related to the sockmaster NormalguyfromUK, but this isn't certain from what I understand; there are also additional users who have been blocked in relation to them, but aren't visible in the confirmed and suspected categories regarding NormalguyfromUK. These include Based Person, Based Person l, and Based guyy; see the 11 August 2023 case as well. The reason I am bringing this up, is due to the bizarre behavior by the reported Eternal_Iliridan. They appeared in the page Corfu Channel incident, which they hadn't edited before, in order to restore a previously reverted problematic edit by co-reported Albanian_atdhetar. Besides that, the former said that they "love" the latter, and that we should follow them on TikTok.

I love Albanian_atdhetar, GO FOLLOW HIM ON TIKTOK HIS USER IS @based.drenica😝😝😝

Following a revert by another user, this time Albanian_atdhetar appeared to restore the problematic edit again; leaving a similar edit summary with emoticons.

Mfs how isn't this Albanian victory we have 0 losses😭🙏🏻

Go check the history of the page, to get a better picture. Not only that, but Eternal_Iliridan continued with another bizarre edit (vandalism to be precise) in the page Battle of Mashkullorë; they replaced "Albanian victory" in the infobox, with "Shadow_based victory" (diff), which apparently pertains to – yet another – TikTok account @shadow_based. Now, if there isn't a single individual behind Eternal_Iliridan and Albanian_atdhetar, it does at the very least appear that they are coordinating from outside Wikipedia. Demetrios1993 (talk) 03:22, 5 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: On 7 July 2024, the reported Albanian_atdhetar vandalized the page 2001 insurgency in Macedonia by inserting a personal attack against a fellow editor in the "result" parameter of the infobox (diff); they received a one-week block for this (block log). As aforementioned, Eternal_Iliridan also vandalized the "result" parameter in the inofbox of another page, three days prior to this incident. Demetrios1993 (talk) 01:01, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: On 29 July 2024, Albanian_atdhetar added a red link in the infobox of the page Greek Civil War; that is "Albanian-Greek Border War" (diff). It should be noted that the very same title was used for a POV fork created by NormalguyfromUK, that was deleted more than a year ago via an AfD. It is surprising that Albanian_atdhetar added a link to it, considering that they are only about five months old. I should also add that only a day prior to that addition, on 28 July 2024, a similar POV fork that had remained in the draftspace, was deleted; its title was "Albanian-Greek Border Clashes 1949" (deletion log), and was originally created by Albanianhistorian123 during the same period (no more than 10 days difference; between 20–30 May 2023) that the aforementioned AfD-nominated article was published. This indicates that Albanian_atdhetar was monitoring that draft, and was prompted to publish something about it following its deletion the day prior. Please recall again what I wrote about Albanianhistorian123 above, in the last paragraph of my post from 29 June 2024. Demetrios1993 (talk) 15:41, 1 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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

They have continued their disruption, as can be seen here. I'd say the possibility of them being socks is high. StephenMacky1 (talk) 12:00, 20 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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  • The best I can come up with on the technical data is Binniwni is  Possible and the others are Red X Unrelated. RoySmith (talk) 16:55, 2 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
    I agree with RoySmith's conclusion of the technical data, though I might even lean away from "possible" a bit. Izno (talk) 04:36, 27 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
  •  Blocked without tags The edits from this account, especially the deleted contributions of Eternal Iliridan, look very much like NormalguyfromUK. If it wasn't for the CU showing Unrelated, I would have said it quacked. There looks to be at least meatpuppetry and off-wiki coordination based on EI's attempted creation of Binniwnl's userpage and multiple references to Tiktok. I've blocked both as WP:NOTHERE given the meatpuppetry and blatant nationalistic agenda from both these accounts. The WordsmithTalk to me 23:13, 8 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

20 August 2024

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Suspected sockpuppets

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I would say that it is worth looking into these accounts. Both accounts were created in October 2023, after the sockpuppeteer's block in June 2023. The former even recreated an article by NormalguyfromUK (Gramos incident). See diff 1 and diff 2. StephenMacky1 (talk) 16:56, 20 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by other users

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The two accounts are edit-warring together, performing identical reverts [21]. Khirurg (talk) 13:30, 29 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The user PrekCali should also be checked for any potential links to the aforementioned accounts. Their contributions all focus in the same topic area as the rest. There is also significant overlap, considering their few edits. Specifically:
Let me also add that PrekCali had created North Epirote Insurgency in South Albania on 25 June 2024, which was speedily deleted a few days after its creation, on 30 June 2024 (see here); this is the only page they ever created (see here). Note that the very first page that Henrikurti created (see here) is the identically-named North Epirote Insurgency In South Albania, on 20 August 2024 (see here); the only difference in its title is the use of "In" instead of "in".
I should also add that confirmed sockpuppets of Arbe21 21 were also considered for potential links to the reported Henrikurti and Randomuser2412 (see diff1 and diff2); it should be emphasized that Henrikurti, Randomuser2412, and Lumbarschen (sockpuppet of Arbe21 21), all appeared out of nowhere in Epirus, where they engaged in edit-warring (see history). There is some additional suspicious activity that wasn't mentioned in the aforementioned comments; such as Lumbarschen appearing a day after the newly-created Skanderbeg's Serbian campaign by Henrikurti, to contest its deletion (diff).
There are alternative possible explanations for what was mentioned above, but I believe there is reasonable suspicion to warrant further investigation. Demetrios1993 (talk) 14:36, 1 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: I know the case is now closed, but for future reference, the indefinitely blocked Henrikurti is indirectly mentioned in the academic paper The Rise of AI-Generated Content in Wikipedia (2024); specifically in section "5.3: Pages Pushing Polarization" (including Figure 2 and Figure 3), on page 4:

  • 5.3 Pages Pushing Polarization
    While the immediate beneficiaries of advertisement are obvious, we also identify pages that advocate a particular viewpoint on often polarizing political topics. We identify eight such pages out of the flagged 45. One user created five articles on English Wikipedia, detected by both tools as AI-generated, on contentious moments in Albanian history. The same user's profile garnered a warning from Wikipedia for engaging in an 'Edit War' with other users (Figure 2). The user changed outcomes of an Albanian conflict from 'Mixed Results' to 'Victory' and deleted supporting text, before using AI to generate an entirely new page on said conflict. The Wikimedia community has since removed the flagged pages and banned the user in question for sockpuppetry. In other cases, users created articles ostensibly on one topic, such as types of weapons or political movements, but dedicated the majority of the pages' content to discussing specific political figures. We find two such articles that espouse non-neutral views on JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky.

This is one of the papers that will be presented at the NLP for Wikipedia (EMNLP 2024) workshop in Miami, on 16 November 2024. Demetrios1993 (talk) 19:08, 13 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

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