Wikipedia talk:Long-term abuse

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Request for LTA listing

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Here’s the situation: An IP address has since September edited a number of articles on the Norwegian (no) Wikipedia. All edits have been the same nonsense about "God’s stew". This has been added to or replaced several random articles, and also edited other user’s posts on the "Village pump".

After being blocked indefinitely on this language version the IP started posting on user discussion and even replacing user pages for me and two other sysops on several language versions. Mainly posting the same nonsense – in Norwegian, no matter what language version – but also describing some of us as devils.

A week ago this happened on the language versions English (en), Nynorsk (nn – a variant of Norwegian), Swedish (sv) and Danish (da). Locally blocked on some of them, then globally blocked after I made a steward request.

Today a new IP showed up. It made several random vandalisms on Norwegian, but not mentioning "God’s stew" on these. The stew mentions today started on English, after it was blocked there went to Nynorsk, Danish and Simple English. When changes were reverted, the IP reverted back instantly. When I on Simple English asked for a quick deletion, and shortly described why, the IP reverted it and wrote «fake news». Again, the IP has been locally blocked (again indefinitely on Norwegian), then globally for 24 hours after I made another steward request.

Given that this nonsense and harassment has been going on for weeks, on at least six language versions and from at multiple IP addresses, I would like an LTA listing for it. Call it "LTA/God’s stew" as it’s a common factor.

The known IP addresses and user names are:

The sysops that have been victims:

The same IP also posted some of the same "God’s stew" nonsense on other user discussions at English, when they reverted.

I want an LTA for this because it is so much easier to link to it when the user in the future shows up again, instead of describing the problem over and over again when reporting on different language versions. An LTA will also make sysops on the different language versions more aware of it, and chances are they can take action even before a report is made.

Thanks! 1000mm (talk) 21:12, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The IP returned today, posting on my simple-WP and meta talk page, so far. Also mentioned User:Znuddel, without tag. Locally blocked both places.
Once again, I’m begging for an LTA listing to be made. 1000mm (talk) 12:51, 17 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
What would such an LTA page be called? Bear in mind that giving attention to disturbed people tends to excite them and WP:DENY is often best. Are you suggesting that an LTA page at enwiki would be easiest for reporting the problem at other projects? As opposed to a page at nowiki? I will block any IP or new user posting stuff such as in the contributions of the above IPs and having an LTA page would not help that (send me an email or other communication if wanted). Johnuniq (talk) 22:32, 17 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
First of all, I’m glad that you will block the IP if you come across some of this, and I’m glad that other sysops have blocked for a limited time when it has happened. As said, it could be called "LTA/God’s stew".
Of the wiki projects this person have used for posting, enwiki and simple-enwiki are the only language versions that have LTA listings, according to the interwiki links. I wouldn’t have asked for a listing here if the user had posted only on other projects.
When posting Steward requests (in English) for global blocks over at Wikimedia metawiki, LTAs here at enwiki is very often referred to – no LTA listing (that I know of) are hosted on metawiki. I have referred to both LTA/KAGE and LTA/Alec Smithson here on enwiki when I have deleted content and blocked users/IPs on nowiki.
Have in mind that nowiki, nnwiki, svwiki and dawiki are small wikis, in languages that few outside the Nordic countries read. Having a small language as your native language means that almost everyone understands English pretty good, and many understands a third and even a fourth and fifth language too. All sysops on no-, nn-, sv- and dawiki will be able to read, and possibly even contribute to, an LTA here on enwiki.
If it only was nonsense posted in random articles, which it was at the beginning on nowiki, I wouldn’t ask for an LTA. It would be detected by patrollers as foreign language unrelated content and removed. But this person is now targeting three nowiki sysops on out talk pages, on five language versions where he/she knows we can’t do much more than reverting. I’m aware of WP:DENY, but in this case the IP removes speedy deletion templates too, along with re-reverting to bring back the text.
As stated, having an LTA that can be used as a reference will make it easier for sysops in various language versions to see that this is more than a local problem on said project. It’s also easier and quicker to refer to an LTA than describing every time you need to report an IP, whether it’s a local report or a global request. In addition, an LTA with a name might help sysops in different language versions to recognize and remember from the last report lasting hours or days, as opposed to remembering a sequence of 8 to 12 numbers and a report saying "posting nonsense again". 1000mm (talk) 00:51, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm half way between those who think LTA pages should be deleted and those who want to decorate them. I missed the "LTA/God's stew" suggestion above (we don't use curly quotes here). I can see the reason for that name but I'm uncomfortable about using a troll's motto as the identifier. Is there some variation of "LTA/Norwegian troll" that would work without being too flippant? Is that an accurate title? There could be a shortcut such as WP:LTA/Stew. Johnuniq (talk) 05:59, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Good point in not using the content as an identifier! The shortcut sounds good, for the long name I need to think of something, maybe brain storm a little with the two other sysops.
Btw, the person is back on my enwiki talk page now: User talk:1000mm. Already reverted the speedy deletion template once. The heading "Kuk" literally means "D i c k" (spacing in case of possible word filter). 1000mm (talk) 10:11, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Johnuniq: Today the person was foolish enough to make some identical edits while being logged in, with a user name that already had an indefinite block on enwiki. User quickly made him/herself eligible for the same status on nowiki and nnwiki, and it has now been globally blocked indefinitely for cross wiki spam: m:Special:CentralAuth/CheeseSupport.
As far as I’m conserned, this is more or less equal to an LTA, at least for the purpose I wanted the LTA. No matter the IP or username used or what language version it happens, we can now point to that global block, and tell it’s a sock puppet avoiding a block. 1000mm (talk) 17:35, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Let's focus on the title and then the content. For the title, what about "Stew"? Or some variation of "Norway"? If that IP continues after the week-long block, let me know and I will block for much longer. Johnuniq (talk) 02:44, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Just found the English word for "lapskaus": Lobscouse, but this will use his content as an identifier. "Norwegian stew" will identify it without using the same wording as the IP. 1000mm (talk) 12:50, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
How about making a draft at User:1000mm/Norwegian stew? That name would be easier to recall. When we think it is ready, you can move it to here and I can make the WP:LTA/Stew shortcut. Or, forget the draft and create Wikipedia:Long-term abuse/Norwegian stew if you are ready. Johnuniq (talk) 01:43, 20 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Good idea. I’ll try to find some time to do that. Since English isn’t my native language, I think I prefer to make a draft. Then have someone to proofread the text, both grammar wise and the choice of wording, but also in terms of what an LTA shuld have, and not have. I will of course look at some of the existing LTAs.1000mm (talk) 11:36, 20 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm happy to proof read. The idea is to show the pattern and areas of interest, with a couple of diffs. Keep it brief and business like. The purpose is to allow others to judge whether a particular new user/IP is the same person (or is a troll imitating them, which makes no difference to us). Johnuniq (talk) 22:09, 20 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Given that this is a cross-wiki vandal who makes many edits outside of English Wikipedia, I think we should create the LTA infopage at Meta rather than here, just like how the NTSAMR spambot has its infopage at m:NTSAMR. — AP 499D25 (talk) 23:40, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I looked at Meta earlier, to find the equivalent of enwiki’s LTA, without luck, which is why I made the request here.
An infopage as a user subpage is a good suggestion! Since I am the main target, it can be placed at m:User:1000mm/Reports/CheeseSupport. It’s late here in Norway now, I will look into such a page tomorrow.1000mm (talk) 23:58, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Demographics Vandal

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Wikipedia:Long-term abuse/Demographics vandal#Basic information

He has his own page but is not listed here Nohorizonss (talk) 18:19, 13 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've added it to the list (which is updated manually). — AP 499D25 (talk) 23:38, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Potential new LTA

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Apologies if I forget anything; I'm not good with juggling huge things like this, and I'm not massively involved in the behind the scenes stuff of Wikipedia beyond patrolling recent changes.

A user named User:Dolirama got into an edit dispute in November 2023, and logged out to edit war with others, as well as argue with them. On 17 November 2023, they were indefinitely blocked for "Battleground mentality, logged out editing, block evasion, etc". You can see the discussion on the user's talk page before they blanked it.

Fast forward to December 2024, and an ANI discussion regarding an IP in an edit dispute on similar articles reveals that they have continued to come back on different IPs with the same behaviour since the original incident; making edits that are challenged, arguing with users and accusing them of bullying and spreading misinformation, then switching IPs and attempting to make the edit again. They have also used another IP to "agree" with the original IP on talk pages about the accusations they make.

They primarily edit music articles, a prominent subject of which being LeAnn Rimes, although not restricted to her. Most IPs appear to be based in the United States, although one is based in the Czech Republic, implying VPN or proxy use.

The ANI discussion dug up a number of IP addresses, and there could be more not mentioned. TheNerdzilla (talk) 03:05, 24 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Report any IP addresses or accounts to WP:SPI, not here. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 03:48, 24 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The thing about this case is that there only appears to be one account initially, which is then followed by the block evading IP addresses. From what I understand, this makes WP:SPI unsuitable for this case, as that's for investigating if multiple accounts are linked to each other, not for connecting an account to an IP address.
Looking at your comment again though, I'm not sure what the intended message is. Is it that I should go to SPI for further evidence (which I can't in this case), or that I'm in the wrong place and this isn't substantial enough for LTA? Again, I'm new to this, so I apologise if this seems obvious. TheNerdzilla (talk) 22:04, 25 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I just told you to report IP addresses to SPI. I can not restate this in simpler terms. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 03:48, 26 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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When a user is blocked as LTA, the (templated?) block notice should link here, so that ordinary Wikipedians know what is going on. I'm specifically thinking of this case. Thank you. Mgnbar (talk) 01:39, 11 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

How I can report LTAs?

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Hi, I'm just seeking for help how I can report LTAs? Because when I usually read Wikipedia, sometimes I found any such of vandalism (I've preventing it at Indonesian Wikipedia). Thanks. Rizky Juliandief (talk) 06:00, 1 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of vandals exist. We might informally refer to an enthusiastic vandal as an LTA but the issue would only be added here if some benefit from doing so could be expected. For example, the LTA might operate in a manner that needed to be explained to good editors so they can understand the issue. If it is just a vandal, they should be reported per the instructions at WP:VANDAL. Johnuniq (talk) 06:07, 1 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Request to add an entry for Giubbotto non ortodosso

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Greetings, I'm requesting to add an entry for Giubbotto non ortodosso. This Italian editor is a persistent sockpuppeteer and banned editor, who adds unsourced/poorly sourced content to various articles, engages in personal attacks against editors who correct their edits and also vandalizes articles outside their area of interest as part of their feuds with different editors who identify and report them as a sock.

The list of SPI's on the sockmaster is extensive; as is the list of confirmed and suspected socks. More extensive than some of the LTA editors listed here. Their main area of interest is in R&B and Hip Hop music. More specifically they have an interest in R&B artist Chris Brown and any articles related to him (e.g., main article, album articles, singles articles, awards articles) -- routinely adding unsourced puffery, altered quotes and/or falsified claims to these articles and claiming ownership of them. Isjadd773 (talk) 17:32, 9 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

LTA label vandal

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I have been seeing a record label vandal go about lately, making spurious label claims. Most of these claim that a country artist is on Walt Disney Records (which has had no dealings with country since the closure of Lyric Street Records in 2010) or Rounder Records (a bluegrass label which has had minimal success with mainstream country). Some of the claims are also anachronistic to when the label existed, such as saying that an artist active in the 1990s was on Big Machine Records, which was founded in 2005. An example of such vandalism can be found here, where it was un-detected for weeks, and a later addition of Walt Disney Records also went unchecked on the same page until I removed it today.

I currently lack the spoons to figure out if this is all the work of one vandal or several, or how the info on this could be collated to make an LTA page warning about it. Would anyone else be able to help? Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 23:51, 13 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Budding COVID misinformation LTA

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For the past six weeks, that I'm aware of, these IPs hosted by mpls.qwest.net have added the vaccine and/or boosters as the cause of death for recent deaths.

  • 65.128.251.227
  • 67.4.128.250
  • 174.20.209.223
  • 65.128.207.191
  • 67.4.225.76
  • 67.4.224.194
  –Skywatcher68 (talk) 15:29, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, that should be reported at WT:FTN. The above IPs are in these ranges: 65.128.192.0/18 + 67.4.128.0/17 + 174.20.209.223. If the IPs in a range continue with that without significant good edits from other IPs in the range, I would be happy to block the range. Johnuniq (talk) 03:49, 8 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, copied to FTN.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 13:49, 8 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Would Simbaz12 merit an LTA report?

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See Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Simbaz12. This user has been socking since September 2024 and primarily adds linkspam to articles. What makes this sockpuppeter insidious is that their edits look like good-faith edits at a glance as they modify/translate a bunch of the other references in the article, making it hard to spot the spam unless one looks very closely; their edits often get uncovered months after they are made and are easily confusable with WP:JUDI. Also, the spam they are adding has multiple domains (e.g. gamblingsite1.example and gamblingsite1.foobar) and is under multiple names/"brands" (e.g. gamblingsite1, betexample2), making it necessary to use checkuser to uncover more accounts, as a simple insource:"gamblingsite1" search won't uncover all of the edits. OutsideNormality (talk) 19:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

New LTA page

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I have created Wikipedia:Long-term abuse/Salebot1, a vandal who uses proxies to create sleeper accounts in order to vandalize popular pages. Requesting assistance/review and help in adding this to the main list. SuperPianoMan9167 (talk) 00:51, 6 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]