Analysis of Deleted Posts with sMerit

[DdmrDdmr]

1. Introduction

This week alone there have been various threads on the topic of deleted posts, and how that could be hiding merit abuse or even be a lead to account farming, since scammers will now likely award merit and then try to delete their tracks by deleting the implied posts.

We cannot get access to the actual deleted posts (only their message Id), nor the reason the post was deleted (by mod/by user, specific reason). Even so, we can perform a rather interesting analysis of the sMerit transactions and forum users that are involved in deleted posts overall, thus this analysis.

Bare in mind that any user on the lists later provided are by no means automatically to be considered merit abusers or account farmers. Post get deleted for all sorts of reasons so it’s not that difficult to come up on any list of the kind, especially for users that award often multiple posts.

When it gets interesting though is when there are cases that are of the following nature:
-   Users that have sent a large quantity of sMerit to posts that were deleted.
-   Users that have received a large quantity of sMerit to posts that were deleted.

Where quantity could be taken as the absolute number of sMerits sent or received to later deleted posts, or the percentage deleted sMerited posts vs non deleted posts of the user.

The dataset for this analysis is the same used in my post on  Forum Metrics - Section/subsection sMerit breakdown.


2. Overall Accumulative of sMerit on Deleted Post

The overall amount of sMerit that has been awarded is 145.572. Of that, 5,16% has been awarded to posts that were later deleted, adding up to 7.514 sMerits. These are not reverted as we know from user’s merit balance, and not being a great amount overall, the do constitute a fair share of “untraceable” sMerit awarding.




3. Rank of users that have sent sMerit to (later) deleted posts

The following is a breakdown by forum rank of all sMerit sent to a post that was later deleted.



The data shows that Sr. Members accumulate the majority of sMerit awarded to deleted posts (24,65% of the total sMerit on deleted posts). Legendary, Hero and Full members are behind with roughly 18% each overall.


4. Rank of users that have received sMerit in (later) deleted posts

The following is a breakdown by forum rank of all sMerit received by a post that was later deleted.



The data shows that data is shifted down a rank layer from Senders. Members are the most awarded on deleted posts (30,62% of sMerit awarded to deleted posts), followed by Full Members (23,17%) and Sr. Members (16,50%).

The above data cannot be taken verbatim though, since the rank shows current user rank, and not rank when awarded the sMerit on the later deleted post.
For example, Jr. Members with enough activity to become Members may have been awarded sMerit on these posts and therefore ranked up. The data shows them as Members since that is their current rank.


5. Percentage of user sMerit awarded to deleted posts vs Total awarded

This is an interesting view. It tell us what percentage of a user’s total sMerit awarding actually ended up on deleted posts.



I’ve aggregated the data for all the users, so the row labels tell us how many users have awarded between 0% and 10%  of their sMerit to later deleted posts, between 10% and 20%, and so on up to 100%.
It turns out that 492 users have awarded their sMerit to later deleted posts, and to no other posts.

Of course, within this data there a simple cases. For example, users that have awarded only 1 sMerit (and no more) to a post, that later got deleted. On the other hand, there are extreme users that have awarded 82 sMerits, all to posts that later got deleted.

Now the vast majority have only a few sMerits involved in deleted posts. To get a better focus, I’ve redone the above graph but placing the condition that deleted posts for the user must sum up to at least 10 sMerit.



As an example, these are the 107 users that have at least 10 sMerits awarded to deleted posts, being the % DeletedOverSent>= 30% (additional condition I’ve added):

Code:

user_id	name	rank	nUsersTo	sMeritTotalSent	sMeritDeleted	nTxDeleted	%DeletedOverSent	URL
168114	CrackedLogic	Legendary	2	82	82	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=168114
343531	dakota neat	Hero Member	1	50	50	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=343531
841996	cacucacok91	Hero Member	1	50	50	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=841996
252477	thresher	Hero Member	1	43	43	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=252477
221114	Noolz39	Hero Member	1	30	30	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=221114
843467	pentol86	Sr. Member	3	28	28	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=843467
912598	ikm	Sr. Member	1	27	27	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=912598
911945	dnz gns	Sr. Member	1	27	27	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=911945
983794	furylmz	Sr. Member	1	25	25	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=983794
965531	loading...	Sr. Member	1	24	24	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=965531
945530	KickItDown	Sr. Member	1	24	24	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=945530
22398	djgtr	Sr. Member	1	22	22	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=22398
996297	apolok	Sr. Member	1	21	21	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=996297
904936	sealofsun	Sr. Member	1	19	19	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=904936
313537	NASdaq	Sr. Member	1	19	19	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=313537
1022815	oleg17	Full Member	1	17	17	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1022815
510355	jesselivermore	Sr. Member	1	13	13	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=510355
1159476	lego17	Full Member	1	12	12	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1159476
955201	Stavri	Sr. Member	1	12	12	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=955201
352475	NiceSoft12	Sr. Member	1	12	12	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=352475
217963	rossr1	Sr. Member	1	12	12	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=217963
854475	Cortes_Cripto	Sr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=854475
212835	kikiyo	Sr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=212835
150593	valley365	Hero Member	1	51	50	2	98.04	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=150593
64700	biodieselchris	Hero Member	1	52	50	1	96.15	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=64700
1223911	dvillier	Member	3	24	23	5	95.83	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1223911
840028	TeMHuK	Sr. Member	1	23	22	1	95.65	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=840028
59386	TonTon	Sr. Member	1	21	20	1	95.24	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=59386
1021252	raes	Sr. Member	1	21	20	1	95.24	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1021252
1779	chickenado	Hero Member	2	85	80	2	94.12	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1779
1275299	DronBudloS	Full Member	1	29	27	1	93.10	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1275299
941248	Mihaylovic	Sr. Member	1	32	29	1	90.63	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=941248
909540	Deymos	Sr. Member	3	26	23	4	88.46	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=909540
62998	Gaff	Hero Member	2	59	51	2	86.44	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=62998
221660	KenChanYu	Hero Member	2	65	56	2	86.15	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=221660
954159	Vangardo	Sr. Member	14	26	22	20	84.62	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=954159
275996	Beachguy	Legendary	1	60	50	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=275996
863406	pinkpanther03	Hero Member	1	60	50	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=863406
932520	investalts	Sr. Member	1	24	20	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=932520
1018936	Myrik_BY	Sr. Member	1	12	10	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1018936
855140	tosha566	Hero Member	1	12	10	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=855140
1059990	ammo121810	Full Member	1	22	18	2	81.82	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1059990
953107	EleGiggle	Sr. Member	1	19	15	1	78.95	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=953107
815249	ilovefeetsmell	Hero Member	1	13	10	1	76.92	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=815249
1659648	First77	Member	1	13	10	1	76.92	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1659648
924920	ONCF	Sr. Member	1	20	15	1	75.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=924920
747042	Opekin	Sr. Member	1	14	10	1	71.43	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=747042
916776	Cherylstar86	Sr. Member	5	31	22	5	70.97	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=916776
1108972	gamerWOT	Sr. Member	1	60	42	1	70.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1108972
400366	sandy-is-fine	Legendary	3	53	37	3	69.81	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=400366
1072102	Jraf95	Member	3	19	13	3	68.42	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1072102
885664	abayan	Sr. Member	2	30	20	2	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=885664
998570	mmhaimhai	Sr. Member	1	15	10	1	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=998570
841947	wowok	Sr. Member	2	17	11	2	64.71	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=841947
513294	trollercoaster	Legendary	2	141	91	2	64.54	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=513294
148875	wpt1wpt1	Sr. Member	1	32	20	4	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=148875
1170838	chikading2016	Member	2	24	15	2	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1170838
842046	aioc	Hero Member	1	16	10	1	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=842046
662293	fxpc	Sr. Member	2	21	13	13	61.90	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=662293
790823	alpsea	Copper Member	1	57	35	2	61.40	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=790823
859512	torikan	Hero Member	1	50	30	1	60.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=859512
382413	xandry	Staff	72	486	288	284	59.26	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=382413
800881	uservalera	Hero Member	1	34	20	1	58.82	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=800881
388305	kusumadewi	Hero Member	2	34	20	2	58.82	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=388305
510738	AS10	Sr. Member	1	23	13	2	56.52	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=510738
1828957	The_ Flash	Member	1	27	15	1	55.56	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1828957
1006591	yohananaomi	Sr. Member	1	18	10	1	55.56	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1006591
1146120	SummonKing2	Full Member	1	18	10	2	55.56	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1146120
920364	iyan33	Sr. Member	3	18	10	4	55.56	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=920364
5797	grue	Global Moderator	3	42	23	5	54.76	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=5797
258500	ap3311	Sr. Member	1	46	25	1	54.35	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=258500
1233301	Mavilcposeti	Full Member	1	46	25	1	54.35	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1233301
1122909	Balzhi	Full Member	1	35	19	2	54.29	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1122909
985308	kpoxococ	Sr. Member	2	26	14	2	53.85	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=985308
113333	PrintMule	Hero Member	1	69	37	2	53.62	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=113333
912255	AliCris	Sr. Member	1	19	10	1	52.63	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=912255
369702	klf	Legendary	8	25	13	8	52.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=369702
1029845	ColorlessK	Full Member	1	28	14	11	50.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1029845
1004188	Bagaji	Sr. Member	2	27	13	2	48.15	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1004188
825659	sellrai	Sr. Member	2	25	12	2	48.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=825659
952778	Sven11	Sr. Member	1	25	12	1	48.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=952778
196146	connexus	Hero Member	1	40	19	2	47.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=196146
987982	kissmarx	Sr. Member	1	22	10	1	45.45	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=987982
953671	QueenOf	Sr. Member	1	22	10	1	45.45	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=953671
932517	Greencandle	Sr. Member	2	27	12	2	44.44	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=932517
959179	c0mrade4chan	Sr. Member	2	34	15	3	44.12	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=959179
387921	BTCMILLIONAIRE	Hero Member	1	94	41	2	43.62	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=387921
1015952	Ronaldcoin2017	Sr. Member	1	46	20	1	43.48	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1015952
231477	nopedope89	Hero Member	2	30	12	2	40.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=231477
95531	n691309	Legendary	1	25	10	1	40.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=95531
1280519	cryptojaani	Member	1	31	12	1	38.71	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1280519
893148	DynamQ	Sr. Member	1	32	12	1	37.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=893148
942484	Sadlife	Sr. Member	2	35	13	2	37.14	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=942484
833860	hyudien	Hero Member	2	54	20	3	37.04	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=833860
1275242	RomashkaSuH	Full Member	3	46	17	3	36.96	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1275242
869186	Harlot	Hero Member	1	33	12	1	36.36	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=869186
9645	mich	Legendary	1	140	50	3	35.71	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=9645
308447	garmin	Hero Member	2	31	11	2	35.48	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=308447
1184165	hkdfgkdf	Full Member	2	34	12	3	35.29	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1184165
944905	saulzaents	Sr. Member	1	102	35	3	34.31	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=944905
1428236	Ekaterinat	Full Member	2	50	17	2	34.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1428236
981947	DedGin	Sr. Member	2	31	10	2	32.26	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=981947
951549	miha	Sr. Member	1	32	10	1	31.25	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=951549
1056566	Yury1	Sr. Member	2	45	14	2	31.11	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1056566
184881	oxilore	Legendary	4	146	45	4	30.82	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=184881
854905	wavesroom	Hero Member	1	65	20	1	30.77	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=854905
158678	goraset	Legendary	2	198	60	2	30.30	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=158678

The weirdest case here is xandry, a staff member with 59,26% DeletedOverSent sMerit ratio, but highest value in absolute terms (288 sMerits in deleted posts). Should be a false positive right?

Note: I’ve preferred to see the overall sMerit sent to later deleted posts by Sender, and not by the pair Sender/Receiver, since I think it shows better shows what we intend here. The list is ordered by DeletedOverSent descending.

Additional Note: As usual, I can't master this editor to give me a properly aligned list.


6. Percentage of user sMerit received on deleted posts vs Total received

Likewise, this is the same as above but from the Receiver’s point of view.


To get a better focus, I’ve redone the above graph but placing the condition that deleted posts for the user must sum up to at least 10 sMerit.


As an example, these are the 131 users that have at least 10 sMerits awarded to deleted posts, being the % DeletedOverReceived >= 30%.

Code:

user_id	name	rank	nUsersFrom	sMeritTotalReceived	sMeritDeleted	nTxDeleted	%DeletedOverReceived	URL
166677	Bitcoiner12	Member	2	84	84	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=166677
1339582	cheddur_announce	Brand new	9	67	67	9	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1339582
327806	SpringfieldM1A	Hero Member	1	50	50	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=327806
1951507	Wingzcrypto2018	Copper Member	1	50	50	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1951507
899064	Nasakioto_	Brand new	1	33	33	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=899064
262951	485Burnt	Jr. Member	1	32	32	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=262951
1633248	Justin-Checqit	Copper Member	2	21	21	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1633248
875065	Reid	Hero Member	2	21	21	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=875065
1561081	uclrtpl	Member	2	21	21	5	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1561081
749155	abegzad	Full Member	1	20	20	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=749155
160506	MWesterweele	Hero Member	1	20	20	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=160506
1445921	mnich	Member	13	20	20	15	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1445921
1043561	GPS600	Full Member	1	20	20	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1043561
1087176	Bohxz M4p4gm4h4l25	Full Member	1	20	20	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1087176
1025208	texas23	Member	1	20	20	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1025208
253537	imutzz	Member	3	18	18	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=253537
1045435	kaigeta	Member	9	17	17	9	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1045435
1159476	lego17	Full Member	1	17	17	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1159476
1145768	dakilangisajaja	Member	4	15	15	6	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1145768
1489202	Avenger907	Member	1	15	15	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1489202
943743	partitura	Sr. Member	1	15	15	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=943743
1138300	Bruce1614	Member	2	15	15	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1138300
1631502	jabby	Member	7	12	12	11	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1631502
1133776	carbal1987	Full Member	1	12	12	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1133776
327995	gonnafly	Jr. Member	1	12	12	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=327995
1469886	f0rzef	Member	2	12	12	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1469886
1827864	gtx1060aa	Member	7	10	10	7	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1827864
1196164	Asawakobana2017	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1196164
2318	AStephen2011	Newbie	2	10	10	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=2318
928911	Sniper150	Sr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=928911
1519131	Flak88	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1519131
1083426	nowlscor18	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1083426
1682812	luckyman0160	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1682812
1219770	anigoweb	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1219770
1447648	woperbink	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1447648
1047634	lepbagong	Full Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1047634
1316221	bizneser	Member	1	10	10	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1316221
1438740	mull99	Member	3	10	10	4	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1438740
1717895	anonymous2020	Jr. Member	3	10	10	3	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1717895
1698785	raiderking96	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1698785
987733	NS-Soul	Full Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=987733
1252009	criptoturk	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1252009
885664	abayan	Sr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=885664
1455329	Estrath	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1455329
1517267	Geraico	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1517267
1445179	Mixa zarik	Jr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1445179
981373	akiraminai	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=981373
1526307	zein1111	Jr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1526307
772154	Meuh5598i	Full Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=772154
1937109	tamerl4n	Jr. Member	1	10	10	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1937109
1524524	hoodi	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1524524
1673052	daza16	Newbie	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1673052
160066	bsmith80	Member	4	10	10	5	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=160066
1391078	Rozcobs	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1391078
1091989	qrhyxelle	Jr. Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1091989
1593336	Aroma92	Member	1	10	10	2	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1593336
1470096	kucing69	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1470096
1914752	blizzard31	Member	1	10	10	1	100.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1914752
258825	ron_	Sr. Member	1	26	25	1	96.15	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=258825
1038148	shezu007	Full Member	3	21	20	3	95.24	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1038148
973996	Chris314	Sr. Member	1	16	15	1	93.75	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=973996
1240796	gambitcoin53	Member	9	15	14	9	93.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1240796
1368198	Kopceak_MD	Member	3	14	13	4	92.86	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1368198
1725980	whoismoses	Member	1	54	50	1	92.59	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1725980
289275	btcnerdie	Jr. Member	1	54	50	1	92.59	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=289275
914013	jenia1	Sr. Member	2	12	11	2	91.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=914013
1992272	koroluk1990	Jr. Member	2	34	31	3	91.18	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1992272
1099522	SquidConqueror	Full Member	1	11	10	1	90.91	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1099522
1770579	Zlata95	Member	1	11	10	1	90.91	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1770579
1148245	mrtryonebiggums	Full Member	1	11	10	1	90.91	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1148245
1312481	petir.bay	Member	1	11	10	1	90.91	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1312481
1453217	markovi4mark	Member	1	11	10	1	90.91	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1453217
1061958	Stakh6	Member	2	29	26	2	89.66	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1061958
1762404	Alex_Sr	Member	1	95	84	84	88.42	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1762404
2084188	Delitr	Newbie	1	15	13	1	86.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=2084188
1061172	bitcoinqueen08	Member	2	29	25	2	86.21	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1061172
1184333	samsung001sss	Member	9	27	23	9	85.19	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1184333
512705	the_doctor	Full Member	2	65	55	2	84.62	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=512705
1275299	DronBudloS	Full Member	6	90	76	6	84.44	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1275299
938506	Jianx	Sr. Member	1	12	10	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=938506
1441331	DunnDy	Member	1	12	10	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1441331
400366	sandy-is-fine	Legendary	3	12	10	3	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=400366
1033191	lance04	Full Member	1	12	10	1	83.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1033191
1076869	pitipawn	Full Member	52	478	392	66	82.01	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1076869
954159	Vangardo	Sr. Member	11	16	13	13	81.25	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=954159
1524187	Romeotom	Member	2	20	16	2	80.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1524187
911706	temmuz	Sr. Member	4	169	134	5	79.29	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=911706
895458	targetmlrd	Hero Member	1	26	20	1	76.92	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=895458
862738	Astvile	Sr. Member	1	14	10	1	71.43	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=862738
537170	rafanadal	Member	3	17	12	3	70.59	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=537170
513803	MetalEngine	Hero Member	4	20	14	4	70.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=513803
1894608	disko_kraljica	Member	7	23	16	8	69.57	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1894608
1351669	caneraydin123	Member	5	16	11	5	68.75	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1351669
1093001	Twinscoin2017	Sr. Member	4	228	152	4	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1093001
114845	litepresence	Full Member	2	18	12	2	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=114845
1040994	cashbitca	Full Member	7	15	10	7	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1040994
1842282	Neelix	Member	1	15	10	1	66.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1842282
979216	RuSS512	Sr. Member	22	234	154	22	65.81	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=979216
559335	DarkDays	Legendary	1	76	50	1	65.79	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=559335
897862	BitmarkInvest	Sr. Member	1	77	50	1	64.94	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=897862
1233301	Mavilcposeti	Full Member	6	90	58	6	64.44	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1233301
848985	ronin07	Hero Member	1	24	15	1	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=848985
1058576	zeingrind777	Full Member	2	16	10	2	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1058576
1202061	chimk	Full Member	2	16	10	9	62.50	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1202061
962182	mela65	Sr. Member	5	31	19	15	61.29	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=962182
1416871	inbizin	Member	1	59	36	36	61.02	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1416871
555171	cpfreeplz	Hero Member	1	33	20	1	60.61	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=555171
338206	elizabethcrypto	Jr. Member	1	20	12	1	60.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=338206
50024	craked5	Hero Member	3	20	12	3	60.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=50024
335943	nesty	Full Member	6	77	46	8	59.74	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=335943
675421	Fatanut	Hero Member	8	31	18	10	58.06	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=675421
1022815	oleg17	Full Member	2	23	13	4	56.52	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1022815
1421358	Krypital	Member	1	26	13	2	50.00	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1421358
1223911	dvillier	Member	3	47	22	4	46.81	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1223911
1036967	Andrew1709	Full Member	2	63	29	3	46.03	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1036967
870606	Dadan	Sr. Member	1	23	10	1	43.48	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=870606
1377795	InBe$ToP	Member	2	26	11	2	42.31	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1377795
1073550	BUK2016	Full Member	2	24	10	2	41.67	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1073550
1209059	Klara_karlovna	Member	11	51	21	12	41.18	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1209059
905883	Bitcocoin	Sr. Member	5	171	69	7	40.35	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=905883
1068464	Xal0lex	Staff	2	44	17	17	38.64	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1068464
1682845	vensky	Member	1	27	10	1	37.04	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1682845
1190597	wilburwilbur	Member	1	27	10	1	37.04	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1190597
1728877	lemonrabid	Member	19	93	34	19	36.56	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1728877
988671	batishta	Sr. Member	8	47	17	9	36.17	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=988671
928416	Kousei23	Sr. Member	3	85	30	3	35.29	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=928416
1764764	esmanthra	Member	7	85	29	29	34.12	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1764764
1002351	Chachacoin17	Sr. Member	1	150	50	1	33.33	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1002351
1114548	Necroface	Member	16	76	25	16	32.89	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1114548
1108107	cherryganda	Full Member	1	31	10	1	32.26	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1108107
1410604	Incognito01	Full Member	7	103	32	7	31.07	https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=1410604

7. Is this useful at all?

It is if one wants to track down merit abusers or account farmers. A good starting point is by going over the above narrowed down lists. I’ve taken a look and some are definitively fishy, some are already tagged, and others seem probably ok based on what we can see on the profiles (bearing in mind that we can’t see the actual deleted posts).

If even a lower two digit percentage of the lists were true bad sMerit usage cases, then I would consider that a good ratio, although lists are small in total volume.
Nevertheless, there will be plenty of false positives and that can only be narrowed down with a one per one look at each specific case.

The lists could be lengthier, by lowering the 10 sMerit requirement on deleted posts that I’ve placed, but the lower this parameter the more false positives well encounter. Also the lower the %DeletedOverReceived value, the more false positives we’ll get too.

[1714831511]

1714831511

[1714831511]

1714831511

[1714831511]

1714831511

[Vod]

We cannot get access to the actual deleted posts (only their message Id)

Actually, as long as they remain undeleted for about 2 mins, we also capture the message title, who sent and who received the merit.

[DdmrDdmr]

Actually, as long as they remain undeleted for about 2 mins, we also capture the message title, who sent and who received the merit.

Yep, I meant the message path/title really as the information that I cannot retrieve. Sender and  Receiver are what allow me to perform the analysis and cross with ranks and so on, but it is the deleted message path I cannot get hold of.

[seoincorporation]

Seems like a new and sophisticated way of farming, I'm afraid. There are some topics related to how many deleted posts can be used to farm, for this is quite easy: you create garbage, receive merit from your alt, then delete your crap and Behold! You have received merit and nobody can't say they are not legit.
As you well know, I've been for a while trying to be listened to the idea of beginning to mod the merit system, by a "Merit abuse report button" in each profile. Sadly, it doesn't have caught the attention and many people disagree.

As Theymos has said, maybe the merit system needs a while, for all these farmers will be, soon or later, out of merits, so they won't be able to farm anymore. I hope so, but, is there any calculation we can make in order to know if it is possible? I mean: is there any math that proves that the farmers eventually will be running out of merit and, by so, it will be impossible for them to farm anymore?
You are the math guy, do you think this is going to happen?

[DdmrDdmr]

As Theymos has said, maybe the merit system needs a while, for all these farmers will be, soon or later, out of merits, so they won't be able to farm anymore. I hope so, but, is there any calculation we can make in order to know if it is possible? I mean: is there any math that proves that the farmers eventually will be running out of merit and, by so, it will be impossible for them to farm anymore?
You are the math guy, do you think this is going to happen?

I cannot backup my opinion with solid data, since it would require to have knowledge of the accounts that actually do belong to farms and analyse those (Nº of account per farm, ranks, merit, smerit, etc.). Since that is not feasible, I will resort to what little my logic can come up with:

I believe (underline believe) that farming with a whole set on new high ranked accounts is going to be very difficult with the Merit System due to the difficulty of gaining merit.
Not with very low ranks based on Jr. member accounts where merit does not apply. Farmers could shift to creating many Jr. Member accounts and dealing to get some of them promoted to members, but that should be the expectation for new farms.
That doesn’t mean that new farms will cease or even be reduced extremely on the whole. If a farm can live of a large amount of lower ranked account, even if with more effort (and spam), then they will. It’s a question of cost/benefit (cost in time, benefit in tokens).

Even if a fee was to be set to have signatures or participate in social media campaigns, the cost/benefit analysis would be the one to determine impact. Now if campaigns require a certain amount of merit above the default rank level, that could be a game changer and act as a stopper (of course that would be that new users would not be able to join campaigns until they start getting merited, but that could be a win-win forum/campaign).

Data shows us that overall weekly supply is rather low and may seem to be stabilizing these past weeks, so there isn’t an overwhelming amount in circulation. Gaining merit the legit way seems rather difficult, but it does seem the main core path to it.

Illegitimate Merit can be achieved by:
•   Merit transfer from users within a single farm -> Whatever could be done here I guess is pretty much done already, and it’s only dormant farms that awake now that can follow this path.
•   Merit purchase on the market (and transfer from other user accounts) -> This is likely to happen, but I doubt that it is currently too significant. This is detectable as seen on the OP and reports on Meta from users.
•   Hacked accounts -> There could be an increase in hacking account attempts to bypass the Merit barrier. This is potentially troublesome and the Meta section has quite some cases every day that show up. The issue there is how long these cases take to get resolved, and the pain it causes to the legit user.
•   Purchases accounts seems like a more logical path, since it would bypass direct report to admins as happens with hacked accounts. Those cases could increase.

Even so, adding merit requirements above rank level minimum to campaigns as mandatory would diminish this effect quite a lot in my opinion.

[sncc]

The weirdest case here is xandry, a staff member with 59,26% DeletedOverSent sMerit ratio, but highest value in absolute terms (288 sMerits in deleted posts). Should be a false positive right?

As you noted, xandry is the most special case, who was also identified in the analysis of Global structure of merit networks.  You can find him/her in the second last figure.  It might be the case that he/she is focusing on some very active threads and evaluating several users posted there, and those threads are deleted recently.  However, it is not clear why he/she needs to send merit so frequently (see below) and I cannot read deleted posts so it remains unclear to me.

[seoincorporation]

<...>

Thanks for your answer.
I do believe this is going to be stable somehow, for, as you've said, the merit transfer has low down. Also, the biggest and most concerning issue seems to be the hacked accounts but this activity is relegated to those who know how to hack accounts, and it is not so simple, but the cases are augmenting and of course it can be done, but shortly discovered. As you said, the fastest way of detecting and recovering hacked accounts is a necessary path to take.
Regarding the merit farmers, maybe they get tired and they will reach a non-trespassing point someday soon. But the problem, from my point of view, is that they are going, surely, to find another new and imaginative way of farming, either by hacking account, either by hacking merits. That's why I always propose the "Report possible merit abuse button".
Also, even if it is going to stop any day soon, this is annoying how many reports of merit abusers we have each day in the meta section when it can be easily stopped by a new system of moderation, for many of the reports don't seem legit to me.
I know you spend time in the Spanish board, and, if you see the merit transaction of the most active members in this board, the normal situation is for them to send merit to each other, for they are all in the same board, and that doesn't mean a farming activity. It can happen in each local board and due to the number of threads opened in meta with merit abuse accusations, I 'm afraid this can become a wich's haunt, an unfair one, for it depends on the context.
That's why I strongly believe this is a matter for the mods on each board.
Anyway, yes, probably they will run out of merit (the farmers) and eventually they will stop doing that. But what about all those who were able to rank-up to full member for instance, due to the farmer activity?

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>
 That's why I always propose the "Report possible merit abuse button".
Also, even if it is going to stop any day soon, this is annoying how many reports of merit abusers we have each day in the meta section when it can be easily stopped by a new system of moderation, for many of the reports don't seem legit to me.

Yes, I endorse the idea, but I would also raise the stakes. Just today, I got “wrongly” merited by a user for commenting on a merit abuse case that another user had found, which in turn has been found yesterday by yet another user. What I stated was:

The problem I see is that there is no clear unique procedure to resolve these cases, so they end up on multiple posts over time, often buried by other subsequent posts. Other times, the cases are reported directly to moderator.
Ideally, we would have a common unique zone where we could report and see the status of the action being taken searching by userId. This would avoid redundant reports, as well as mitigate the effect of re-reporting already cleared cases.
Seoincorporation is suggesting getting a “Merit abuse report button" in each profile to help the reporting process, but in addition I would add what I stated above.

So in my conceptual scheme, I would add to your proposal a “report ledger” (not on the blockchain, forum would suffice...) so we can trace the case status, whether it has been reported before (so as not to duplicate, triplicate or n-plicate cases). This could apply to account farming and merit abuse, though the former is formally pursued and the latter in an ad-hoc manner via DT (unless it drives us to an account farming case).

I know you spend time in the Spanish board, and, if you see the merit transaction of the most active members in this board, the normal situation is for them to send merit to each other, for they are all in the same board, and that doesn't mean a farming activity. It can happen in each local board and due to the number of threads opened in meta with merit abuse accusations, I 'm afraid this can become a wich's haunt, an unfair one, for it depends on the context.
That's why I strongly believe this is a matter for the mods on each board.

That’s true. The Spanish local board has a stronghold of maximum 10 users in my opinion that are good posters, so logically sMerit is awarded amongst them regularly, even though in small quantities simply because sMerit is rather scarce there. With time, it could look circular sMerit sending, but as you say, local mods could discern the above reason when studied in depth.

Anyway, yes, probably they will run out of merit (the farmers) and eventually they will stop doing that. But what about all those who were able to rank-up to full member for instance, due to the farmer activity?

Member rank is the most I figure any new farm will reach, unless the purchase sMerit or accounts with sMerit. New farms may try to live of increasing their number of accounts with low ranks, thus resulting in more effort to maintain (and even may lead to more spam). Some will backdown, whilst others persist.

[InvoKing]

As you noted, xandry is the most special case
-snip-
.However, it is not clear why he/she needs to send merit so frequently
-snip-

He is a source, charged to distribute smerit mainly in his local board which is Russian.
(This information may be inaccurate of course since it is based on my personal analysis).
BTW, nice stats DdmrDdmr

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>

Cheers..

Being xandry a Staff member and a Merit Source, on can only assume that the sMerit distribution is correct and founded. What stands out as strange is that 59,26% of the SMerit he sent has been to posts that were later deleted, aggregating a total of 288 sMerits in deleted posts. Nevertheless, the 288 sMerits are awarded to 283 different messages and 72 distinct users, so it is widely spread out and not concentrated.

The intriguing thing is only really why these posts where deleted when they seem to be legit due to the presence of a staff member in the awarding of sMerit process which endorses it all.

Note: I can’t tell how many threads the deletions occurred on, just the number of distinct messages stated above.

[athanz88]

So with this all being created, do you guys think that we need special grave for a deleted posts which has merits on it?

As you noted, xandry is the most special case
-snip-
.However, it is not clear why he/she needs to send merit so frequently
-snip-

He is a source, charged to distribute smerit mainly in his local board which is Russian.
(This information may be inaccurate of course since it is based on my personal analysis).
BTW, nice stats DdmrDdmr

Is there a written rule that if someone come from a local board and become a merit sources then he/she has to spend the merits on the local board? I guess no (but maybe i am wrong, please enlighten me). If the board doesnt have a good post, thhen he/she must find great posts in other board. Giving merits to low quality posts just because he is the merit sources of the board is not right in my opinion.

By the way, good job as always DdmrDdmr.

[InvoKing]

-snip-

Well, it depends from the merit source. From what I understand, some of them are exploring several parts of the forums and distributing smerit to the best posters. Others are mainly local orientated smerit sources, of course they can give smerit to everyone but local posters are their target.
I don't look at the Russian board to judge xandry behaviour very well but if someone is suspecting misconduct of anon xandry, you can pm theymos to inspect his actions.