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We received some intel about a voting /delegation ring involving sock puppet accounts. I spent a few hours using Python and Excel Fu collecting data and this is what I found so far.

Below is the link that shows a number of accounts involved in the ring. To facilitate mitigation of this threat (accounts are quickly gaining rep. I noticed on is rep 65 already), I have included below a list variable that can easily be put into Python:

['tayyabhussain1','tayyabhussain','amnasheikh','alishapti','rajasaqiminhas','amankaur','kirankhan','brendaava','bijitadevsharma','anjaligupta','anshitasameer','kittynoor','punampatodiagarg','nikkisharma','anujgupta','nishantranjan','anushkasingh','pravirsharda','rupalialo','manishakhan','serocoramallag','anshumangupta','nikitapatil','serkankamci','alexalma','alvinass','haniyakhan','hirraangel','hafsatariq','rupeshdeepak','hinatariq','efatfatima','ayeshakhann','maryamkhan','stylishgirly','shamabaig']

Link to the delegation report:

http://www.steemreports.com/delegation-info/?account=tayyabhussain1

To lay out why I feel this is such a problem, I will leave an excerpt from Steem's whitepaper below.

The challenge faced by Steem is deriving an algorithm for scoring individual contributions that most community members consider to be a fair assessment of the subjective value of each contribution. In a perfect world, community members would cooperate to rate each other's contribution and derive a fair compensation. In the real world, algorithms must be designed in such a manner that they are resistant to intentional manipulation for profit. Any widespread abuse of the scoring system could cause community members​ ​to​ ​lose​ ​faith​ ​in​ ​the​ ​perceived​ ​fairness​ ​of​ ​the​ ​economic​ ​system.

Using a bid bot on a YouTube link with no context, no commentary, and getting paid for it...

SEEMS LEGIT!

Keep in mind this doesn't even account for the curation rewards this ring is making. High rep accounts, yall think we should give this voting / delegation ring the smack down or what? I can coordinate a flag rewards campaign if the community thinks this is worth pursuing.

How do you tell me if you think this abuse is worth pursuing?

Upvote / Resteem this post if you would like me to start a Steem Flag Rewards campaign for this problem to help attack via incentivized flags.

Including the spreadsheet with the data below for review:

Voting Ring Spreadsheet