Accusation:
@inkedandsexy is running a network of fake accounts upvoting borderline plagiarism.
An anonymous steemian reported about the account on discord. I went out to investigate!
The Findings:
The evidence is supporting the claims!
I will not bother myself with the plagiarism here, it's more than obvious that all the posts are low-effort copy&paste material from a third source. Actual image sources are never explicitly mentioned but obfuscated with a generic: "source: Instagram & Printerest & Google Image". You'll be the judge on this yourself.
The interesting part of this case starts when digging through the transaction trace, starting with @inkedandsexy's wallet:
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case: @inkedandsexy - spamposting tattoed vixens
- @inkedandsexy | created 2017-05-21 18:24:45
first transfer in from @thefactfactory
So let's see what's going on over there:
- @thefactfactory | created 2017-05-10 00:45:09
sponsored another acct before @inkedandsexy -> @cryptonewsblog
- @cryptonewsblog | created 2017-05-17 00:52:12
gets funds from @samanthabarolli
And this is where it starts unfolding:
- @samanthabarolli | created 2017-06-04 19:54:42
sponsors a whole list of accounts: @tengribizmenen, @timucin, @cengizhan, @ipekhanim, @affeeeman, @jabulai, @asena, @mrwhitenight, @kinglui, @jonnislav, @sacrumlux
And that's where the snake bites it's tail:
- @tengribizmenen | created 2017-06-04 19:41:51 - votes sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @timucin | created 2017-06-04 19:30:45 - votes sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @cengizhan | created 2017-06-04 19:22:45 - votes sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @ipekhanim | created 2017-06-04 19:17:06 - votes sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @affeeeman | created 2017-06-04 19:10:21 - votes & sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @jabulai | created 2017-06-04 19:03:36 - only votes on @inkedandsexy
- @asena | created 2017-06-04 18:55:09 - only votes on @inkedandsexy; tx-out to @samanthabarolli
- @mrwhitenight | created 2017-06-04 11:42:00 - votes & sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @kinglui | created 2017-06-04 11:29:45 - votes & sends funds to @inkedandsexy; tried pretending to be a street-art blog
- @jonnislav | created 2017-06-04 11:19:48 - votes & sends funds to @inkedandsexy
- @sacrumlux | created 2017-06-04 11:04:30 - inactive
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So it apparently isn't enough to earn rewards with low-level copy&paste posts, you have to bloat it up with sockpuppet-self-votes!
The account @thefactfactory seems to be the preliminary originator of this operation and deserves to be looked at with additional scrutiny. But enough for today, it's time to switch off the lights at 221B Baker Street.
I have been able to line up a whole bunch of cases... we'll see what else I can dig up!
yours,
Sherlock
DISCLAIMER: All the account names have intentionally been mentioned without linking. I am just starting and lack both the reputation and the voting power to do something about this. A flag war would sink my ship in the blink of an eye! If YOU feel something needs to be done... be my guest! But be careful, if your reputation score is lower than theirs, you won't impact them and they will be able to stomp you in the ground!
Have you witnessed similar things yourself?
Don't just ignore it and move on... let me know!