Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/EWAdams/Archive

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


EWAdams

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

08 November 2021

Suspected sockpuppets

EW Adams is a contributor to his own page. He has made numerous changes, and has removed COI and notability tags unilaterally whenever other editors have added the tags. There are a few IP editors who made similar changed in the past to

Ernest W. Adams
, adding CV like content, as well as accounts with not much edits or sleeper accounts making edits to the EW Adams page. Some IP editors removed COI/notability tags from the Ernest W. Adams page, using the edit description of "vandalism", which is similar language to what EWAdams used. In an AFD, many of the users have been dormant or making single purpose accounts. Another editor in the AFD discussion has suspected possible sockpuppets. Some editors have that some IPs (81.110.20.150) have been in the same place as Adams consulting firm in the UK.

The similar edits in question relate to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernest_W._Adams&action=history, or https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Ernest_W._Adams&action=history

The edits are all several years old, so not a priority. Could you please check whether JoeKazz, and Ruthaylett and Basicporch, who are participants in the AFD which are either single purpose or infrequent editors have any connection to EWAdams or any IPs associated with EWAdams, listed above. Swil999 (talk) 00:20, 8 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

193.11.10.89 is owned by Upsalla University, Adams' institution.

Comments by other users

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 Stale - no available data:
Jordan Dubs (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log· investigate · cuwiki)
no No comment with respect to IP address(es).
Behavioral evidence:
This EIA timeline over the AFD discussion page pretty much speaks for itself, to be quite frank. None of these users have ever touched an AFD discussion or even a page within the Wikipedia project namespace at all before contributing to this AFD. Looking at the contributions for each account, I also observe that EWAdams and Ruthaylett both had not made an edit to Wikipedia for over a year prior to participating in the AFD discussion. JoeKazz was created 15 minutes prior to participating at the AFD discussion, and all of their edits (with the exception of one) have been made there. Basicporch has made sporadic edits every few months in 2021, but suddenly went straight to the AFD discussion just like all of these other accounts.
The first two edits made by these accounts to the AFD discussion were made by EWAdams and Ruthaylett within 31 minutes of one another, and are here and here. Both of these users did not change the canned edit summary that was inserted ("/* Ernest W. Adams */"), and both users did not sign their comments. The edit summaries by JoeKazz and Basicporch are all similarly formatted (with the exception of one) - they all begin with a capital letter and they all end with a punctuation. Many comments by these accounts also use similar wording, capitalization, formatting, and demeanor - and some even revert and restore content made by another account that was removed by another editor.
Given the similarities I found in the comments and edit summaries by these accounts in the AFD discussion, and given the fact that none of these accounts have participated in an AFD discussion before or have even edited a page within the Wikipedia project namespace at all prior to participating in this AFD thread, and the fact that these accounts suddenly returned to editing Wikipedia within the span of less than a day (or were created solely to comment at the AFD discussion), I believe that there is sufficient evidence to establish within a reasonable amount of certainty and confidence that EWAdams, JoeKazz, Ruthaylett, and Basicporch are in violation of Wikipedia's
meat puppetry policy. These accounts will be indefinitely blocked and tagged, and this SPI report can be closed. ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 12:03, 12 November 2021 (UTC)[reply
]