• Aferditaa (talk ·  · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki · SI)
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User:Brikcity, who was created about eight months ago (CA), was blocked indefinitely for sockpuppetry a few days ago, on 30 July 2024. The identified sockpuppet was User:Nikpoulos, created on 26 July 2024 (CA). Drmies, I am pinging you in case you want to have a look at this report, considering your familiarity with the aforementioned accounts.

User:Aferditaa was created less than a month ago, at exactly 14:57, 6 July 2024 (CA); that is about three hours after User:Brikcity's first-ever block, which lasted 31 hours (block log). The initial two blocks of User:Brikcity, prior to their final indefinite block for sockpuppetry, were the result of edit warring in the page Template:Albanians, where they tried to add what they considered a more representative image for the Albanian ethnic group as a whole (diff1, diff2, diff3, diff4, diff5). This behavior indicates that User:Brikcity considered the issue very important. User:Aferditaa also tried to restore the very same image (diff) a few hours prior to User:Brikcity's indefinite block, and they even showed their support in a discussion that was initiated by the latter in the article's talk page, regarding this topic (discussion).

Another observation I made, is that User:Brikcity created Draft:Marie Shllaku on 3 July 2024, and User:Aferditaa created Marie Shllaku on 12 July 2024; about 13 hours after the former's second block, which lasted two weeks. Furthermore, another similarity is that both have dozens of attached accounts showing in their respective CAs, but have only edited in the English Wikipedia and in Wikimedia Commons. The relatively few uploads of both in the latter (uploads1, uploads2) show images of Marie Shllaku, which is another interesting similarity.

Besides the above, there is already significant overlap between the activity of the two (EIA); especially when their few edits are taken into account.

I could add more. Demetrios1993 (talk) 17:30, 3 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: Even if the CU shows no technical connection, it wouldn't surprise me considering User:Aferditaa's admission that they "know how IP addresses work" (diff), which would allow them to mask their true identity if they were careful.

Regarding the aforementioned Draft:Marie Shllaku created by User:Brikcity, and Marie Shllaku created by User:Aferditaa, I would also like to add that they both used an identical general reference. In terms of references, the only difference is that the latter has an additional one to a webpage; but then again, it is greatly expanded compared to the draft. Specifically:

Draft:Marie Shllaku created by User:Brikcity has:

• <ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Stephen |title=Communism and Islam in Albania and Kosova, 1941-1999 - from the Partisan movement of the Second World War to the Kosova Liberation War. |date=2009 |pages=28 |language=English}}</ref>

Marie Shllaku created by User:Aferditaa has:

• <ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Stephen |title=Communism and Islam in Albania and Kosova, 1941-1999 - from the Partisan movement of the Second World War to the Kosova Liberation War. |date=2009 |pages=28 |language=English}}</ref>

Another similarity is that both users are apparently ignorant of the fact that other users are allowed to remove warnings from their own talk pages, as explained in WP:REMOVED. Specifically:

User:Brikcity wrote:

• [...] I warned the user to stop twice and they deleted the warning message from their talk page[.] (diff)

User:Aferditaa wrote:

• Hi there, any reason why you deleted the warning on your talk page? [...] (diff)

The few comments of both users posted in talk pages, show that there are numerous instances that they forgot to begin their sentences with a capital letter, or to add a final punctuation. I believe that the frequency of such mistakes is significant for consideration. Specifically:

User:Brikcity wrote:

• [...] . that symbol is non inclusive and is actually inaccurate considering this is a template for the ethnicity, not the country. (diff)
• yep, I believe it has more precedent to be used [...] respectively (this is also reflected in the template itself). the coat of arms of modern albania [...] especially with any Albanians who feel otherwise[.] (diff)
• hey there, I noticed you recently [...] Thank you[.] (diff)
• hi @MrFixer200, I'm currently working on [...] (diff)
• Please reconsider the block here[.] (diff)
• I still don't see anyone disagreeing with me in the talk page. what are the rules on waiting to make an edit? (diff)
• agree to disagree, I guess! thanks[.] (diff)

User:Aferditaa wrote:

• hey @Diannaa, thank you for [...] Thank you[.] (diff)
• Hi @Floquenbeam[.] You've again failed to show me [...] (diff)
• And again, please stop with the offensive language/comments[.] 😢 (diff)
• no worries! thanks for catching that typo, I probably would not have noticed otherwise[.] :-) (diff)
• agree with @Βατο, it's most representative of the ethnic group as opposed to citizens of the country. the flag of the republic of albania was changed very recently[.] (diff)
• It's really destructive[.] (diff)
• Your behavior is exactly why the pages are marked as contentious[.] (diff)
• I think it suffices to add a footnote at the end of the sentence to mention that some states do not formally/diplomatically recognize kosovo. recognition is fleshed out in more detail further below[.] (diff)
• [...] otherwise someone will find out who I am and where I live. i'm really not sure how to respond to that, [...] (diff)
• i'm not sure that your opinion about footnotes being 'clunky' - despite the fact that it is literally a letter as opposed to a number (in the case of a citation) - should be a determining factor here. i think this seems like a perfect place to put a footnote, following wikipedia guidelines[.] (diff)
• I believe what you copy and pasted from was my very first contribution regarding the matter, and my subsequent 3 or 4 edits were done to reword and rephrase/move stuff around. nevertheless i will try to add information in in a more careful manner. thanks[.] (diff)
• Thats not friendly especially considering this user's consistently aggressive behavior[.] (diff)

Something else I found interesting, is that User:Aferditaa began posting warning templates on users' talk pages only two days after their registration; this isn't normal for a supposedly new user, who wouldn't be expected to display such a conduct so soon. What is equally interesting, is that User:Brikcity appears to have become familiar with warning templates seven months after their registration; at least, that's when they first posted one, on 6 July 2024. Recall again from my previous post, that this is the same day that User:Aferditaa was registered; hence, it would explain why they were aware of warning templates on their third day of activity. Specifically:

User:Brikcity (registered on 3 December 2023) posted:

• {{Uw-disruptive2}} at 04:50, 6 July 2024 (diff)
• {{Uw-ew}} at 05:33, 6 July 2024 (diff)

User:Aferditaa (registered at 14:57, 6 July 2024) posted:

• {{Uw-delete2}} on 8 July 2024 (diff)
• {{Uw-delete1}} on 11 July 2024 (diff)
• {{Uw-delete2}} on 31 July 2024 (diff)

I haven't gone through everything, but I believe that if all of the above evidence is taken into account, it is enough to support a connection between the two accounts; again, note that their contributions are relatively few. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Demetrios1993 (talk) 14:06, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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

•  Behavioural evidence needs evaluation CU offers nothing whatsoever, sorry. Drmies (talk) 20:05, 3 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Check declined by a checkuser - per drmies ST47 (talk) 06:51, 6 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• The behavioral evidence presented here is remarkably thorough; I wish they were all like this. I'm satisfied that a connection between these two accounts has been demonstrated. Blocked and tagged. Closing. The Wordsmith^{Talk to me} 03:49, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]