Attention /r/conspiracy - The Sock Puppet situation is about to go nuclear.
76 2013-08-01 by dontletthemwin
I've been tracking sockpuppets since early 2011 and I think I just stumbled on the latest in astroturfing technology and I think the botnet army has leveled up a bit and you guys need to be the first to know about it.
I have been harassed by these people, given death threats, told repeatedly that I should kill myself, etc. I have a mind that probes the very real possibilities that they don't want you to know about it. They're threatened by it and continue to improve their technologies to aid their campaign to discredit and destroy me. I cannot and will not let them win.
The following is a brief I presented in /r/AdviceAnimals in response to this post where USMC recruiters are preying on naive teenage minds. Be very careful about which links you follow on reddit. For those of you who are familiar with the Quickmeme incident I'm starting to believe Wayne's story and I think I may have figured out why it happened. I'm duplicating its contents here in case it is removed:
Holy sockpuppets, Batman!
OP is a recruiter and his story is 100% fabrication.
In case anyone doesn't realize OP is a sockpuppet I'm making it my job to inform you otherwise:
He used the wrong meme.
He can't use proper grammar or even spell the word "forward" ...
His first and only post was pro-military propaganda.
He's playing on teenage angst: "fuck my parents! they paid for my school but they don't like my girlfriend! Why can't the let me live my life?!"
He actually expects us to believe he has a Master's in Chemical Engineering but gave up a perfectly good chance at making six-figures, starting pay to be a Marine making $33k ...
He posted in a mainstream sub where the key demographic is teenagers.
We would all get downvoted into oblivion for this kind of post yet OP has over 9000 upvotes on his very first try ... beginners luck? Only because OP is a hero. ;)
What I'm trying to point out is that not only is the OP a lying sack of shit but a bunch of the people in the comments cheering him on and upvoting him are also sockpuppet accounts. The purpose of making this particular sockpuppet so obvious is to make less credible anyone pointing out that the rest of are sockpuppets as well.
For speaking out they'll go straight to attacking your sanity:
"You're an idiot"
"/r/conspiracy"
"Tell me, Mr Anti-American Communist propagandist paid-shill for the Maoists who sold his soul to Valadamir Putin and Ayatollah Khomeini because you're the devil and you hate America! If I'm a sock puppet then why have I been posting in /r/aww since March of 2011?! Huh? Tell me that? Tell everyone here why I'm a sockpuppet and you aren't!"
"You should kill yourself, armchair sociopath!"
Here's a little history lesson: what OP is doing is what a military sockpuppet from March of 2011 looked like ... their tactics have become far more sophisticated since then. Most of these accounts are at least two years old and have more sophisticated comment histories with the pro-military propaganda edited out so you won't know you're being trolled by paid shills.
This post is just the baiting people who remembered this and it's supposed to be a blatantly obvious sockpuppet post just to get anyone with a lick of sense to either call out the OP for being stupid or to call out the OP for being a sockpuppet.
As long as what you have to say isn't "You go, OP! Semper Fi!" then your account has been flagged and they will follow you to other subreddits and harass you. They'll comb through your comment history to discredit you. They'll send you death threats and try to start shit with you and bleed every comment you make with downvotes until you're so raped of karma that Reddit won't even let you post except once every 10 minutes.
Consider yourselves warned, Reddit. This is a level four, possibly level five sockpuppet social engineering attack. I don't know what they're planning but I think the livememe.com domain is involved. The Quickmeme guys said they had been set up by livememe.com and I'm starting to think I know why ... I'll bet the DoD controls livememe and they're using it to get all of your IP addresses so they can hack your computers for speaking out against the military.
Level 1: obvious sockpuppet accounts like this one.
Level 2: maintained sockpuppet accounts that post in mainstream sub to it doesn't look like they only post propaganda.
Level 3: maintained sockpuppet accounts that post in non-mainstream subs so it doesn't look like they only post in mainstream subs.
Level 4: Sockpuppet bait accounts. These account are obvious sockpuppets meant to trick people who would speak out against the military into speaking out so they can harass you.
Level 5: Compromised URLs. Sockpuppets bait you into clicking a link controlled by Homeland Security so they can get your IP and hack your network.
They've had two years to perfect this attack. If what I think is happening is actually happening then the sockpuppet situation has just gone nuclear.
It's happening.
39 comments
22 Three_Letter_Agency 2013-08-01
upvote for capturing my interest.
13 KingContext 2013-08-01
/r/MilitaryConspiracy for more on this subject.
5 ikilledyourcat 2013-08-01
glad you're* here
6 Rockran 2013-08-01
Careful with the grammar, OP will think you're a sockpuppet.
3 ikilledyourcat 2013-08-01
fixxxxed
11 [deleted] 2013-08-01
Very, very good post.
Unfortunately most people will never believe this until it becomes blatantly obvious, which of course it never will because propaganda is extremely sophisticated.
On a side note, I found a hidden virus in my computer that was connecting to a windows based computer. This is after attacking numerous sock-puppet accounts and calling out their bullshit.
I started to get the feeling that my computer was bugged before I foudn the virus. Programs were acting strange, things were not closing right away and a long list of other strange things that I had never experienced with my laptop, or any laptop.
Jokes on them though, I left the US last year and moved to a random part of the Balkans.
3 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
I'd be interested in some high level direction on how to locate said virus? I've had some strange happenings lately, but I've not located anything.
1 redditeditard 2013-08-01
My "reddit is fun" app for Android has been shifty since the last update...
8 [deleted] 2013-08-01
Who are level 5 sockpuppets? Or do you know? Are we talking about a person controlling multiple accounts?
What exactly is a sockpuppet?
11 dontletthemwin 2013-08-01
Level 5 sockpuppets aren't reddit sockpuppet accounts but entire web sites that lower-level sockpuppets direct traffic to for further monitoring. Level 5 is how sockpuppetry goes from an almost benign propaganda-spewing nuisance on Reddit to being a full blown security threat to your home and business network.
If the same people who are sending you death threats now have access to your IP addresses this presents a very real threat to your safety and comfort. A few trivial attacks against your network's hardware could be used to monitor your online activity, steal your passwords, manipulate your friends and family, corrupt your computer's files, brick (break) your hardware. They could use it to establish your identity, your home address, your phone number, the names and whereabouts of your friends, your family, your boss, etc. They could publish any and all of this information online just to draw more harassment to you in a practice known online as "doxing":
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dox
The possibilities are endless once they have your IP address. The same people who are sending you death threats could very well show up at your home while you're sleeping and hurt you ...
I suspect that livememe.com might be one of these sites. It would explain why the quickmeme.com takedown seems so directed. Livememe is trying to monopolize the /r/AdviceAnimals sub but do you know who else is trying to monopolize the sub? Army recruiters ... and if you say bad things about the military there are lots of people who want to hurt you.
It's also worth mentioning that your IP address is stored and readable in your reddit account. If someone were to figure out your Reddit password they can easily get your IP address in plain text:
https://ssl.reddit.com/account-activity
All anyone has to do to get your Reddit password is watch your type it if it's a weak enough password. Reddit tried to curb brute-force attacks to prevent people from using dictionary attacks but I'm not 100% on its efficacy.
5 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2013-08-01
I would say tell the admins about this, but the admins probably take on contracts to allow Eglin and other air force bases to do what they do on reddit.
9 FreedomIntensifies 2013-08-01
Wow, the singularity is really coming. Casual mentions of Eglin like everyone knows. We've gone from a lot of doubt and lack of surety in the last five years to people listing off the geographical locations that particular programs are run out of like it is nothing.
Things are well past critical mass.
7 dsprox 2013-08-01
Everybody knows Reddit is owned by Conde Nast and that Elgin AFB posts the mosts, so yes everybody knows that the system is rigged and reddit is no longer credible and free, it's been compromised.
We're all just waiting to make the next big migration to our new aggregate home.
3 AssuredlyAThrowAway 2013-08-01
Advance Publications gave 18 million to reddit inc when Yishan came on.
Reddit inc won't discuss their other investors. I wonder why?
A 230 million dollar valuation does not come from an 18 million dollar push.
1 flyingtyrannosaurus 2013-08-01
A key logger or even a cookie half as sophisticated as facebook's could be used to identify you. There's no question about that. I'm waiting for the mother load.
Eventually we're going to find out that upstream monitoring goes all the way up to our keyboards.
We already know that the US Government designed and deployed the most sophisticated, undetectable, destructive computer virus in the history of the world.
They've got more information and more power than we can possibly imagine. I fear that we've already crossed the line, and this is the new norm that every person will be confronted with for their entire lives.
Government surveillance does not foster a free or open society. It only encourages more police activity and eventually a fear of the police, themselves.
A political environment based in irrational fear is the key ingredient in every recipe for every despotic government in the history of the world.
Please, for the love of god, don't give into fear... And watch the politicians very closely, because they'll give in way before you do.
6 sirhorsechoker 2013-08-01
Did you see where they are creating people who's job is too sway public opinion online by being as many as ten online personalities, each with verifiable backgrounds and credentials? They claimed it wasn't to be used on English speaking websites....
8 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
That'd be the HB Gary Scandal.
Also of interest, Cass Sunstein is recently back in the news, up to his old tricks with a fresh ethnic face as his frontwoman.
Nuclear option, indeed.
3 cngfan 2013-08-01
If he's an officer, this is only base pay. He would still get housing allowance (BAH), and basic allowance for sustenance (BAS), making his pay closer to 45k, a few $k more if married, plus shopping on base tax free, healthcare free. Plus, whatever incentive pay and hazard pay he may earn on assignment. No state tax, (depending on state) no federal or state if in a combat zone Also, often times they will pay student loans.
This isn't close to 6 figure, mind you, but not as meager as you suggest.
This doesn't really disprove or prove anything, but it's good to have a fair perspective on this point.
4 Meister_Vargr 2013-08-01
The only bullshit there is that he claimed he'd get a six figure for just a Masters and nothing much else. Not in this economic climate he won't.
Harsh reality probably pulled the rug from under him, so he decided for the military option instead.
2 cngfan 2013-08-01
Yeah. I don't know much about that field in particular, but in some situations, when times are hard, having a masters doesn't mean much if the field is filled with candidates with doctorates.
3 haidaguy 2013-08-01
I'm usually pretty wary about buying into reddit conspiracies -- who knows they, themselves, aren't paranoia inducing conspiracies -- but this is one I can get behind.
the U.S. military using devious, underhanded, hidden, manipulative tactics to try and recruit kids is so unbelievably plausible nowadays. I mean, we're talking about a military complex that develops videogames to sway kids to join it.
I think you're right.
And the paranoia that livememe is involved does not go too far...
This is good questioning -- it might be happening.
Also, two separate accounts in the comments used verrry similar word usage. Lazy shills...
1 Bipolarruledout 2013-08-01
Sockpuppets are real but most seem rather unsophisticated. Karma has always been for sale but and networks have been unearthed in the past. Reddit could easily reduce this by limiting the number of logins per IP. It wouldn't stop all of them but it would sure help. Here's a great article on the subject:
http://goldenageofgaia.com/2012/10/i-was-a-paid-internet-shill/
1 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
If you criminalize logins, only criminals will be able to log in.
1 flyingtyrannosaurus 2013-08-01
Even if you're only half right about your assertions in this thread(which I think you are) It really frightens me that this much effort could be put in to influence a few people on a reddit thread.
The account that scared me the most out of all of the disinformation agents I've come across was jk13. Obama shilling at its worst and always ready for a new spin... It's like I was calling the White House press secretary a shill for the whitehouse.
-1 [deleted] 2013-08-01
[deleted]
1 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
So is your attack vector.
-1 2akurate 2013-08-01
What if these people are just pro military and the fact that they posted in /r/awww has nothing to do with a large conspiracy but simply because they are real people? What if they called you a psychopath and told you to kill yourself because they are real people and to them you are coming off as a complete paranoid schizo?
I believe there are sockpuppet accounts and that reddit is heavily manipulated but it might work a lot simpler than you think. These institutions simply have to wait for a post to pop up that is in line with their propaganda and vote it up with bots. The poster in this case is real they just manipulate opinion by flooding theirs with upvotes and in so doing giving it exposure and the illusion of wide acceptance.
edit: upon looking at the military guy's profile I do agree that its a sockpuppet and that it has been upvoted by bots. There is no way in hell reddit would upvote that because its long and tedious as fuck to read and its pro military. Its not funny and its not particularly inspiring either, it's just bad. Put on top of that the fact that this is the guy' first post and you got a pretty clear image.
2 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
Real people don't tell strangers to kill themselves on the internet, regardless of their agenda. If you think that's permissible, I'd submit that you're not a real person, too. It's crass and insensitive to the point of psychopathy.
6 Rockran 2013-08-01
Ever play League of Legends?
2 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
No. For exactly that reason. And I hope all of those alleged 'people' stay right where they're at.
1 2akurate 2013-08-01
I guess you havn't been on the internet much, ppl say that shit all day everyday if you don't agree with them. And yes its psychopathic, im not protecting these people. But it cannot be put forth as evidence for a conspiracy, alteast its not enough for me.
Note again im no saying government isn't shifting public opinion in these manners but the way op describes the operation is not something i believe in. People who make accounts and keep them active for years only to post pro military sentiment and brainwash the masses?
1 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
--Issac Asimov
0 2akurate 2013-08-01
How am I anti intellectual? Quoting an intellectual doesn't make you smart I hope you know that, because in this case the quote is completely misused. Saying I don't believe in the assumptions OP makes does not make me anti intellectual and of a liberal mindset when it comes to truth. I know there is truth and I know ignorance is no excuse. Completely misuse of the quote.
Don't reply to me until you have read my comment, it will spare you the embarrassment.
1 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
What you believe doesn't discount factual statements out of hand. You were first to ignore the discussion in favor of injecting your emotions, I was just pointing that out.
It's a frequent problem in debate these days, people who believe their emotions are as, or more, valuable to the discussion than engaging the points in question logically. It's not really your fault, we live in a society that makes it appear this is a valid discussion tactic, when in reality it's programming to destroy your ability to think rationally and sidestep your ego long enough to reform your opinions when new information is presented.
1 2akurate 2013-08-01
This is what I don't get about your contention, I DID address what he presented as evidence, so I have no idea what you are on about. Again you completely misunderstood my comment.
1 streetyouth 2013-08-01
kill yourself
1 InspectorBloor 2013-08-01
4edgy8me
-5 Unkn0wnn 2013-08-01
I read the post, what am I reading?
8 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
That'd be the HB Gary Scandal.
Also of interest, Cass Sunstein is recently back in the news, up to his old tricks with a fresh ethnic face as his frontwoman.
Nuclear option, indeed.
1 ronintetsuro 2013-08-01
If you criminalize logins, only criminals will be able to log in.
1 InspectorBloor 2013-08-01
4edgy8me