"VICTOHH1", "Gofté Moorish" and "Mrpf plus" have edited the obscure
Austrian expedition against Morocco (1829) article, with VICTOHH1 and Gofté Moorish targetting it as their first edit.
Both "VICTOHH1" and "Gofté Moorish" were registered on the 1st of March 2023 within hours of each other (to edit fr.wp).
"VICTOHH1", "Gofté Moorish" and "Mrpf plus" have a habit of using bare urls (citing books with the fr tld).
"Mrpf plus" tried to add Morocco to the
fr:Guerre de Char Bouba on the 27th of June and was reverted. Both "Gorfti" and "Gofté Moorish" (notice the similarity between the usernames) tried to include the same thing on the equivalent English wiki (
Char Bouba war).
Note: "Gofté Moorish"
reverted my edit on the 26th of this month. One minute later, "Gorfti"
thanked me for reverting their edit (the one that was restored by "Gofté Moorish"). The chances of that happening by pure coincidence are literally nil.
All four seem obsessed with infoboxes and Morocco.
M.Bitton (
talk) 16:44, 30 June 2023 (UTC)reply
Upon further investigation, I found a discussion on fr.wp where "Gofté Moorish" admits that "Gorfti" is a friend that "supports" them on Wikipedia (see
Diff). This is as clear an admission of meatpuppetry as it can get, though they could well be one and the same. It also supports the previously mentioned connection (see note above).
M.Bitton (
talk) 00:11, 10 July 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: thank you for looking into this. Since you didn't comment on "Mrpf plus", does that mean that they are not related to the others?
M.Bitton (
talk) 15:12, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
M.Bitton, that is correct. I typically only comment on positive findings, and here's why: "positive" in an SPI requires a lot of evidence of different kinds, but there's many gradations of negative for many different reasons. Plus, I don't really want to comment on differences and idiosyncrasies--BEANS and all that. Thanks,
Drmies (
talk) 15:15, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: thank you for the clarification. Best,
M.Bitton (
talk) 15:16, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
Gofté Moorish and VICTOHH1 are confirmed, as far as I'm concerned, and I blocked and tagged them. Gorfti could be a sock or a piece of meat; it's not impossible, but the geolocation makes it too fishy for me.
Drmies (
talk) 20:55, 15 July 2023 (UTC)reply
A "new editor" restoring the sockmaster's
without even trying to be creative.
I will also note that
Mrpf_plus who has been suspected to be part of the meatpuppets (though, exonerated in the last SPI), turned up 30 minutes after them to "fix the page". When reverted, they said we have putten 6 sources about it (see
Diff). When asked what they meant by "we", they said
I mean Moroccans. How they came to the conclusion that the other editors are Moroccans is anyone's guess.
M.Bitton (
talk) 14:35, 18 August 2023 (UTC)reply
Clerk endorsed - see cross-wiki overlap and timeline.
MarioGom (
talk) 22:13, 14 September 2023 (UTC)reply
Either Unlikely or Inconclusive due to possible proxy use.
RoySmith(talk) 00:01, 15 September 2023 (UTC)reply
Relisted - Zayani55 shares a peculiarity with punctuation (space before question mark) with others [1][2][3]. Last activity of Gofté Moorish was on 2023-08-29 14:27:25 (astwiki), Yassinelahlaouti7 was on 2023-09-02 00:21:38 (cawiki), and Zayani55 signup was on 2023-09-03 16:54:45, there are somewhat interesting similarities in wiki attachments
[4][5]. Timecards are pretty similar. Adding or manipulating † for frwiki infoboxes
[6][7][8]. Also check this comment similar to Mrpf plus (
talk+·tag·contribs·deleted contribs·logs·filter log·block user·spi block·block log·CA·CheckUser(
log) ·investigate·cuwiki):
[9][10][11]. However, there's some aspects of editors used and timing that make me second guess. Given there is more recent activity, I'm listing this for another check that includes both Zayani55 and Mrpf plus.
MarioGom (
talk) 15:01, 1 October 2023 (UTC)reply
Zayani55 is Highly likely to be Mrpf plus (see archive), but I can't quite get to "confirmed" on the CU data. As for whether those two are VICTOHH1, the best I can do on the CU data is Possible, and that only when supported by something I noticed which I'll be happy to divulge to a clerk or admin off-wiki.
RoySmith(talk) 16:21, 1 October 2023 (UTC)reply
Awaiting administrative action - please, indef Mrpf plus and Zayani55. I think these should get dual tags: Zayani55 proven to Mrpf plus and both suspected to VICTOHH1. I can do the fancy tagging after the blocks if needed. Thank you.
MarioGom (
talk) 19:27, 3 October 2023 (UTC)reply
@
MarioGom: After reviewing everything I have indefinitely blocked both accounts. I've marked the case status as closed accordingly, but if this is not the right time to do that please advise and I'm happy to correct that moving forward. Because of the uncertainty in their connection to VICTOHH1 I haven't marked anything as a master or added them to any categories or anything like that, I only applied the blocks as needed. -
Aoidh (
talk) 14:58, 4 October 2023 (UTC)reply
A new editor who created a pseudo-article left
this comment on my talk page (after I corrected the obvious mistakes). A comment that looks very similar to
this one (by "Mrpf plus"). The fact that they mention the
Austrian expedition against Morocco (1829) (the sockmaster's favourite) is too much of coincidence. It could also be
Zayani55 (who has been found during the last CU to be highly likely Mrpf plus).
M.Bitton (
talk) 20:56, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Somehow,
Yousefsw07 (an editor with 68 edits) managed to find the article that was created today. This is very strange to say the least, especially given
this edit (notice the we have provided, which suggests meat-puppetry).
M.Bitton (
talk) 22:32, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: If you have time, could you please look into this? I'll understand if you don't. Thanks.
M.Bitton (
talk) 23:48, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Earlier today, I stumbled upon this article while researching naval incidents involving Morocco, and I noticed an ongoing edit war between you and @
Lefootop. After conducting further research on the topic, I recovered an older version of the article containing a military infobox that clarifies the incident's outcome and the involved parties, facilitating better comprehension for other Wikipedia users. I had made only one edit and did not engage in this edit war any further, which makes your accusation of me being a sock puppet completely outrageous.
Yousefsw07 (
talk) 23:54, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
This is strange (I don't recall pinging you about this).
M.Bitton (
talk) 23:58, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I clicked on your profile earlier and skimmed through your most reason user contributions, that’s how I found this investigation.
Yousefsw07 (
talk) 00:02, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I have been looking through wikipedia editing histories on North African pages and noticed some sort of bias towards a few countries, specifically Libya and Morocco. I am not a sockpuppet and have never been one. I don't even know who this "VICTOHH1" is for that matter.
Lefootop (
talk) 02:41, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
This account is new since i wanted to create a new wikipedia page.
Lefootop (
talk) 02:42, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I think that
this comment by Lefootop is highly indicative of sock puppetry, as the specific accusations of “working for the Algerian government” and to a lesser extent “falsifying Moroccan history” are very odd conclusions to arrive at on the basis of this account alone’s interactions with M.Bitton, animosity notwithstanding. I’ll hold off on taking further action at this time as I believe this could benefit from a CU check and I don’t currently have conditions to investigate the other listed alleged meatpuppet account. signed, Rosguilltalk 23:33, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
User:Rosguill, how's it going? So, Lefootop is confirmed with Yassinelahlaouti7, who is confirmed with VICTOHH1. Interestingly, Yousefw is another one, a few hundred miles away (so actually not impossible), now blocked and CU-confirmed with S Molecular. Take care,
Drmies (
talk) 17:01, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
"VICTOHH1", "Gofté Moorish" and "Mrpf plus" have edited the obscure
Austrian expedition against Morocco (1829) article, with VICTOHH1 and Gofté Moorish targetting it as their first edit.
Both "VICTOHH1" and "Gofté Moorish" were registered on the 1st of March 2023 within hours of each other (to edit fr.wp).
"VICTOHH1", "Gofté Moorish" and "Mrpf plus" have a habit of using bare urls (citing books with the fr tld).
"Mrpf plus" tried to add Morocco to the
fr:Guerre de Char Bouba on the 27th of June and was reverted. Both "Gorfti" and "Gofté Moorish" (notice the similarity between the usernames) tried to include the same thing on the equivalent English wiki (
Char Bouba war).
Note: "Gofté Moorish"
reverted my edit on the 26th of this month. One minute later, "Gorfti"
thanked me for reverting their edit (the one that was restored by "Gofté Moorish"). The chances of that happening by pure coincidence are literally nil.
All four seem obsessed with infoboxes and Morocco.
M.Bitton (
talk) 16:44, 30 June 2023 (UTC)reply
Upon further investigation, I found a discussion on fr.wp where "Gofté Moorish" admits that "Gorfti" is a friend that "supports" them on Wikipedia (see
Diff). This is as clear an admission of meatpuppetry as it can get, though they could well be one and the same. It also supports the previously mentioned connection (see note above).
M.Bitton (
talk) 00:11, 10 July 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: thank you for looking into this. Since you didn't comment on "Mrpf plus", does that mean that they are not related to the others?
M.Bitton (
talk) 15:12, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
M.Bitton, that is correct. I typically only comment on positive findings, and here's why: "positive" in an SPI requires a lot of evidence of different kinds, but there's many gradations of negative for many different reasons. Plus, I don't really want to comment on differences and idiosyncrasies--BEANS and all that. Thanks,
Drmies (
talk) 15:15, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: thank you for the clarification. Best,
M.Bitton (
talk) 15:16, 16 July 2023 (UTC)reply
Gofté Moorish and VICTOHH1 are confirmed, as far as I'm concerned, and I blocked and tagged them. Gorfti could be a sock or a piece of meat; it's not impossible, but the geolocation makes it too fishy for me.
Drmies (
talk) 20:55, 15 July 2023 (UTC)reply
A "new editor" restoring the sockmaster's
without even trying to be creative.
I will also note that
Mrpf_plus who has been suspected to be part of the meatpuppets (though, exonerated in the last SPI), turned up 30 minutes after them to "fix the page". When reverted, they said we have putten 6 sources about it (see
Diff). When asked what they meant by "we", they said
I mean Moroccans. How they came to the conclusion that the other editors are Moroccans is anyone's guess.
M.Bitton (
talk) 14:35, 18 August 2023 (UTC)reply
Clerk endorsed - see cross-wiki overlap and timeline.
MarioGom (
talk) 22:13, 14 September 2023 (UTC)reply
Either Unlikely or Inconclusive due to possible proxy use.
RoySmith(talk) 00:01, 15 September 2023 (UTC)reply
Relisted - Zayani55 shares a peculiarity with punctuation (space before question mark) with others [1][2][3]. Last activity of Gofté Moorish was on 2023-08-29 14:27:25 (astwiki), Yassinelahlaouti7 was on 2023-09-02 00:21:38 (cawiki), and Zayani55 signup was on 2023-09-03 16:54:45, there are somewhat interesting similarities in wiki attachments
[4][5]. Timecards are pretty similar. Adding or manipulating † for frwiki infoboxes
[6][7][8]. Also check this comment similar to Mrpf plus (
talk+·tag·contribs·deleted contribs·logs·filter log·block user·spi block·block log·CA·CheckUser(
log) ·investigate·cuwiki):
[9][10][11]. However, there's some aspects of editors used and timing that make me second guess. Given there is more recent activity, I'm listing this for another check that includes both Zayani55 and Mrpf plus.
MarioGom (
talk) 15:01, 1 October 2023 (UTC)reply
Zayani55 is Highly likely to be Mrpf plus (see archive), but I can't quite get to "confirmed" on the CU data. As for whether those two are VICTOHH1, the best I can do on the CU data is Possible, and that only when supported by something I noticed which I'll be happy to divulge to a clerk or admin off-wiki.
RoySmith(talk) 16:21, 1 October 2023 (UTC)reply
Awaiting administrative action - please, indef Mrpf plus and Zayani55. I think these should get dual tags: Zayani55 proven to Mrpf plus and both suspected to VICTOHH1. I can do the fancy tagging after the blocks if needed. Thank you.
MarioGom (
talk) 19:27, 3 October 2023 (UTC)reply
@
MarioGom: After reviewing everything I have indefinitely blocked both accounts. I've marked the case status as closed accordingly, but if this is not the right time to do that please advise and I'm happy to correct that moving forward. Because of the uncertainty in their connection to VICTOHH1 I haven't marked anything as a master or added them to any categories or anything like that, I only applied the blocks as needed. -
Aoidh (
talk) 14:58, 4 October 2023 (UTC)reply
A new editor who created a pseudo-article left
this comment on my talk page (after I corrected the obvious mistakes). A comment that looks very similar to
this one (by "Mrpf plus"). The fact that they mention the
Austrian expedition against Morocco (1829) (the sockmaster's favourite) is too much of coincidence. It could also be
Zayani55 (who has been found during the last CU to be highly likely Mrpf plus).
M.Bitton (
talk) 20:56, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Somehow,
Yousefsw07 (an editor with 68 edits) managed to find the article that was created today. This is very strange to say the least, especially given
this edit (notice the we have provided, which suggests meat-puppetry).
M.Bitton (
talk) 22:32, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
@
Drmies: If you have time, could you please look into this? I'll understand if you don't. Thanks.
M.Bitton (
talk) 23:48, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
Earlier today, I stumbled upon this article while researching naval incidents involving Morocco, and I noticed an ongoing edit war between you and @
Lefootop. After conducting further research on the topic, I recovered an older version of the article containing a military infobox that clarifies the incident's outcome and the involved parties, facilitating better comprehension for other Wikipedia users. I had made only one edit and did not engage in this edit war any further, which makes your accusation of me being a sock puppet completely outrageous.
Yousefsw07 (
talk) 23:54, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
This is strange (I don't recall pinging you about this).
M.Bitton (
talk) 23:58, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I clicked on your profile earlier and skimmed through your most reason user contributions, that’s how I found this investigation.
Yousefsw07 (
talk) 00:02, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I have been looking through wikipedia editing histories on North African pages and noticed some sort of bias towards a few countries, specifically Libya and Morocco. I am not a sockpuppet and have never been one. I don't even know who this "VICTOHH1" is for that matter.
Lefootop (
talk) 02:41, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
This account is new since i wanted to create a new wikipedia page.
Lefootop (
talk) 02:42, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply
I think that
this comment by Lefootop is highly indicative of sock puppetry, as the specific accusations of “working for the Algerian government” and to a lesser extent “falsifying Moroccan history” are very odd conclusions to arrive at on the basis of this account alone’s interactions with M.Bitton, animosity notwithstanding. I’ll hold off on taking further action at this time as I believe this could benefit from a CU check and I don’t currently have conditions to investigate the other listed alleged meatpuppet account. signed, Rosguilltalk 23:33, 4 November 2023 (UTC)reply
User:Rosguill, how's it going? So, Lefootop is confirmed with Yassinelahlaouti7, who is confirmed with VICTOHH1. Interestingly, Yousefw is another one, a few hundred miles away (so actually not impossible), now blocked and CU-confirmed with S Molecular. Take care,
Drmies (
talk) 17:01, 5 November 2023 (UTC)reply