Using Sock-Puppet Accounts: Plutus Card Thread

[JollyGood]

I am not making a scam accusation against Plutus but I am making the point they have used sock-puppets in an attempt to drum up fake buzz.

Threads cannot be pumped to the top of listings with low level sock-puppet accounts yet they attempted it. What makes it startling is that I sent a PM to them on 6th March 2020 with a very well worded approach asking them to stop which they did for a week before they started doing it again therefore I created this thread.

Here is the PM I sent them on 6th March 2020 after they started using sock-puppets to post in their thread, it coincided with their photo campaign and was obviously a shady move.


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Hello,

Regarding this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1521838.1440

I am not saying you are using sock-puppets or that you are paying for fake accounts in an attempt to pump your thread but it has been noted that newbies have started posting in your thread - specifically pages 73 and 74 which coincides at a time when you are trying to drum up interest in your business with your photo campaign therefore it raises suspicion for obvious reasons.

I hope whoever is controlling the fake newbie accounts will stop posting in your thread. Thank you.

Kind Regards
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Even after requesting they stop it a brand newbie account was created just to post this today:

Hi ,i dont understand how to spend PLU with plutus debit card ,how tu add ,in plutos app ,PLU cryptocurrency to plutos debit card?

It is a shame that any project feels the need to use sock-puppets in an attempt to drum up fake buzz.

[Coinfan]

Using fake accounts to promote their business and keep doing it even after a warning is a red flag and can backfire.

Do they think potential customers are stupid and won't notice the fake promotion? Any person should be very careful before investing a cent on them.

Moreover, using fake accounts to post on their thread is clearly against bitcointalk rules and can get them banned: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

[Lauda]

I hope whoever is controlling the fake newbie accounts will stop posting in your thread. Thank you.

There is nothing to hope. Either they are in on it, or they condone it. There is no other option.

This is a self-moderated topic. If you do not want to be moderated by the person who started this topic, create a new topic. (1 post by 1 user deleted.)

Were they not in on it and were they not condoning the behaviour, they could have asked on your request.
Flag time?

[JollyGood]

Still there are very suspicious user accounts with minimal history and newbies somehow finding their way on to the Plutus ANN thread....

[Harlot]

Still there are very suspicious user accounts with minimal history and newbies somehow finding their way on to the Plutus ANN thread....

From my observation I see minimal evidence that they are creating fake conversations in that thread based on the last two pages of their ann thread. Yeah some of the latest posts are coming from newbies with very little activity here in the forum but based on the Ann section, Plutus' ann thread is in the first page right now and I know a lot of newbies can see it even if they just scroll down. Other than that the last two pages contains questions about the project and nothing about newbies talking about the project being awesome or any kind of shit that will point out the obvious. Maybe for pages 73 and below you will see a different case but with their recent pages you will barely see anything about sock-puppet accounts based on my observation.

[JustinBounty]

While it is true that they might be using such accounts to create hype and bring their topic on first page but on the flip side I feel that there might be competitors that are paying such guys to bump some threads and actually make their image bad although I highly doubt it anyone would spend money to bump other's thread just to bring them bad name.

A very good observation though.

Even after requesting they stop it a brand newbie account was created just to post this today:

True but in case of someone else doing it, they are actually helpless and cannot stop it.

[JollyGood]

Thank you for your input.

Some of the posts made by those suspect accounts in their ANN are laughable just as are the Plutus representative accounts which are posting replies to those questions.

From my observation I see minimal evidence that they are creating fake conversations in that thread based on the last two pages of their ann thread. Yeah some of the latest posts are coming from newbies with very little activity here in the forum but based on the Ann section, Plutus' ann thread is in the first page right now and I know a lot of newbies can see it even if they just scroll down. Other than that the last two pages contains questions about the project and nothing about newbies talking about the project being awesome or any kind of shit that will point out the obvious. Maybe for pages 73 and below you will see a different case but with their recent pages you will barely see anything about sock-puppet accounts based on my observation.