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Revision as of 03:47, 26 March 2019 by Anomalocaris (talk | contribs) (<font> → <span style>; properly close <div>)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Wikilifespan | April 2009 - July 2010 |
|---|---|
| Sockpuppet investigations | Alexcas11 |
| Instructions | Check to ensure the style of writing bears resemblance to that which is listed from further below, if other contributions are similar, block and tag as sock. |
| Status | Archived |
 | Please report all ongoing incidents of abuse to AIV or ANI |
Alexcas11 and sock accounts
Alexcas11 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Alexcas11 has been creating hoax film articles and adding links to these articles to actor biography articles since April 2009. A secondary trait is the creation of articles for actors in their teens or younger; while the subjects of these articles are real people who may or may not be notable, the filmographies included in these articles are almost complete fabrications, with one or two genuine roles mixed in with fantasy entries.
Alexcas doesn't interact with other users and will not reply to requests for sources, user warnings or sockpuppet investigation notifications. The only possible reaction I have noted is that a SPI notification sometimes results in the creation of a few articles in rapid succession.
While these edits seem to be more in the realm of fantasy rather than malice - edits to biographies, for example, add fake and fantasy projects, but never consist of an attack on the subject - the pattern of edits results in disruption to the encyclopedia, with a lot of time devoted to undoing the damage. Although most of Alex's articles and edits are intercepted as part of normal patrolling and fact-checking, enough survive to cause problems in the longer term.
As of February 12, 2010, there have been over 45 confirmed or probable sock accounts blocked.
- Confirmed
- Suspected
Modus operandi
Hoax film articles
Alexcas11 has been creating sock accounts at an approximate rate of one a week to add hoax film articles and links to these films to actor articles. These films are frequently purported to be sequels to existing films and most often the hoax films are in the horror or teen film genres.
Film articles are often copy-and-paste versions of other articles; in particular, hoax articles on purported sequels are based on copies of the existing original film or another film article, although with most of the text removed or altered. IMDb links in the external links section of the hoax articles, possibly as a consequence of copy-and-pasting, link to existing films on IMDb; in the case of purported sequels, they frequently link to the IMDb entry for the original film, but in other cases will link to unconnected films. The prose style is idiosyncratic; more details on this can be found in the writing style section below.
Particularly in the earlier edits from assorted socks, there was a strong tendency to create fake articles on purported sequels of horror film franchises, particularly rebooted franchises. Many of the articles in recent months are purported 3D remakes of teen-orientated films.
The choice of titles for other hoax articles sometimes includes the word "boy" or "hero". For example, titles have included American Boy!, Boy Power and The Superhero.
Alexcas also creates film articles for films that may be in production or planned (and may be notable) but with fantasy misinformation included in the article. In some cases these articles can be salvaged and have been rescued by other editors.
Edits to biographies and existing film articles
When adding links to actor articles, Alexcas normally adds the link to the filmography section only, in particular the filmography table, without editing the main text of the article; while he has made edits to the general article text on occasion, it is unusual. Links added to the filmography table frequently overwrite existing entries. For example, this edit to the Jimmy Bennett article overwrites an existing credit. A random sampling of similar edits shows the general style of the edits: , , , ,
Edits to film article generally add entries to the cast list and/or alter existing entries and much as his edits to actor articles, rarely add large sections of text, although that isn't set in stone. Some examples: this edit to A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010 film), this, this and this to Valentine's Day (film)
Frequently targeted articles
Alexcas will frequently add fake credits to actor articles and film director articles, with an emphasis on teen or pre-teen actors and actors and directors associated with horror films. The films linked in these articles are generally, if not exclusively, hoax creations of a sock account.
Frequently targeted biography articles include: Jimmy Bennett, Charlie Tahan, Tobey Maguire, Josh Hutcherson, Troye Sivan, Tony Oller, Jason Ritter, Chad Michael Murray, Eric Bana, Jared Padalecki, Sam Worthington, Logan Miller, Logan Lerman, Derek Mears, Tyler Mane and Daniel Radcliffe
Frequently targeted film articles include: Valentine's Day (film), Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Spider-Man (film series) (and Spider-man related articles) and The Hobbit (2011 film). Special note should be given to his interest in horror films such as Friday the 13th Part 2 (2010 film), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010 film), My Bloody Valentine 3D, Trick 'r Treat and the Final Destination series. Many of the hoax articles created are alleged sequels to these films, such as Jason Vs. Michael, The Final Destination 5. A horror-related article for the production company Platinum Dunes has also been the subject of attention
Other hoax articles include sequels in the Night at the Museum and Home Alone series, as well as a sequel to the The Hangover film. (Examples include The Hangover 2 (2011 film) and The Hangover 2 (film).)
However, the lists of films and actors here are by no means exhaustive and should be taken as indicative of interests only. Alexcas does return to articles recently visited by blocked socks, so a look at the article history can be useful.
Sock accounts names and longevity
Sock account names frequently include numerical strings such as 111, 1111, 123 and so on. For example: 17 Again111 (talk · contribs), Sherlockfletcher111 (talk · contribs), Superhero111 (talk · contribs), Homesolo1111 (talk · contribs), Loleros123 (talk · contribs).
Other names include the word Boy such as Spectacular!Boy (talk · contribs), WolfBoy11111 (talk · contribs), Kaboomboys123 (talk · contribs), 4-D Boy (talk · contribs), CrazyandWildboy (talk · contribs) and FacebookBoy (talk · contribs). Of course, uses of numbers or the word "boy" in user names are common and many of the sock accounts don't include either; however, it is worth bearing in mind.
Most often, active sock accounts reach the end of their life after being blocked due to a report to sockpuppet investigations; however some accounts are abandoned by Alexcas for some reason and are only tagged as Alexcas socks after a checkuser discovers them or the accounts are included in an SPI report long after they have stopped editing.
Writing style
Some of the IP edits that seem to be from Alexcas11 geolocate to Mexico, although a SPI case in February linked Alexcas to an IP in the United States; it is entirely possible that English is not his first language. However, at any rate, his writing style is distinctive.
As articles created by Alexcas are deleted, prose examples are difficult to produce but here is an example taken from one of his prose edits to another article.
This is an edit to the Zoom (film) article from January 2010 and made by OneTime11 (talk · contribs) (Diff):
Eventually the sequel is be planned before the first film but the complications with the studio and Tim Allen was very bussy to do a sequel. In June 2008, the studio want a second film and a different story and Tim Allen accepted reprise his role and the young teens actors accepted reprises his roles but in the second part is now are superheroes and new kids are presenting in the Zenith Program. This sequel is now filming in Canada and be released in August 2011 in 3D.
Another example is these quotes taken from an article created by CrazyandWildboy (talk · contribs) although this article was subsequently rescued by other editors:
A teenager want to be part of the Forgevie Part Community a place from rock stars and Tony lives with his sister Jill because his mom dies in a car accident and his dad in crash airplane and live alone and Tony wants to enter to the campament to be a famous rock star but when he leaves the sister cames alone and Tony choice that the life of a rockstar or living with his sister the rest of his life.
and
Josh Hutcherson debut as a Ejecutive producer of this movie and the idea comes when he write with Carlos De Los Rios a friend of his dad and invent a story and Josh wants the lead role but in the story the lead role is a girl, Lawrance Roeck a new director interests the project and want to direct the film but Josh have not distribuited and studio and Universal wants to produces the film and In May 2008, whe he finished the movie of Journey to the Center of the Earth Josh and Carlos make a casting in Los Angeles, California and found the right actors to be in this movie.
From personal experience, the prose style, when encountered in new film articles, is distinctive enough to warrant an immediate check of other contributions from the user. FlowerpotmaN·(t) 00:12, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
- (Updated 12 February, 2010 FlowerpotmaN·(t) 15:35, 12 February 2010 (UTC))