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In fact the purpose of this post is flagging one suspicious behavior between two MSE users.

But I'll start from something seemingly non related. In the question Downvoting complete solution there was a discussion of downvotes for the question and answers in the thread Calculate the n-th term $1, -3, -7, \ldots$.

I downvoted questioner (user Ha Hi) because its question is extremely simple relative to his other questions. It is very suspicious to see a request for help in finding pattern in the sequence $1,-3,-7$ after asking help with the limit $\displaystyle\lim_{x\to a}\frac{a^{a^{x}}-{a^{x^{a}}}}{a^x-x^a}$

Also I downvoted answerer (user Madrid Zhaku) because he posted a terrible answer. Moreover he posted another terrible answer to the similar question (Find a formula for the real sequence $(a_n)$) of the same questioner. I think this is a bad practice when one user provides complete and awful solutions to homework like questions.

Then I made a small investigation.

I think Ha Hi is a fake account for earning reputation by Madrit Zhaku.

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    $\begingroup$ I learned that there is an automatic system to detect such things. It doesn't seem to be triggered yet... $\endgroup$
    – draks ...
    Oct 10, 2012 at 21:29
  • $\begingroup$ Can someone explain why anyone would do this? The user would have to put pretty much effort for 10-15 credits, that can be used for... what? $\endgroup$
    – AD - Stop Putin -
    Oct 13, 2012 at 13:01
  • $\begingroup$ @AD this increases USI $\endgroup$
    – Norbert
    Oct 13, 2012 at 13:20
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    $\begingroup$ @Norbert Sure but only by little, and we don't talk about a university degree - so I cannot see the point of wasting the energy. $\endgroup$
    – AD - Stop Putin -
    Oct 13, 2012 at 13:31
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    $\begingroup$ @hjg see this $\endgroup$
    – Norbert
    Oct 14, 2012 at 21:46

2 Answers 2

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Madrit Zhaku has apparently done this twice in the past, so he's been suspended for a year. In the future, please contact the moderators directly about such issues (for example via flagging).

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    $\begingroup$ I made this post to provide evidences $\endgroup$
    – Norbert
    Oct 10, 2012 at 21:44
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    $\begingroup$ Moderator tools are more than capable of finding enough evidence. I'm not saying I don't appreciate you bringing this to our attention, but I think these sorts of things should be done privately in general. $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Oct 10, 2012 at 21:52
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    $\begingroup$ How can I privately contact moderators? $\endgroup$
    – Norbert
    Oct 10, 2012 at 22:09
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    $\begingroup$ Flagging is already enough in a situation like this. $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Oct 10, 2012 at 22:11
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    $\begingroup$ @Norbert: all of the moderators' e-mail addresses are publicly available on this site. Click on our name cards here. $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Oct 11, 2012 at 7:30
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    $\begingroup$ @WillieWong The only way I see to get the emails this way is if they have it on their homeage nd the homepage linked in the profile. I did not find your email adress. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Greinecker
    Oct 11, 2012 at 11:16
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    $\begingroup$ @Michael: eh? Okay, that's bizarre. I clearly (perhaps falsely) remember there used to be a tick mark that gives permission to display my e-mail publicly. But I see that you are right, e-mails are not displayed to non-mod accounts! I've edited my profile to reflect this. $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Oct 11, 2012 at 11:44
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    $\begingroup$ There used to also be an e-mail address on the bottom of the pages to which one can send e-mails and trust that they will eventually (a) be dealt with by SE employee if it is a technical issue and (b) be forwarded to the moderators. Now it seems that the e-mail address is replaced by a form. So that avenue is no longer available. $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Oct 11, 2012 at 11:53
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    $\begingroup$ @WillieWong That form still sends a mail to the same address (which is team@stackexchange.com). And I don't think there was ever an option to display the mail address publicly, you have to write it manually in your "About" profile field. $\endgroup$
    – user9733
    Oct 11, 2012 at 12:39
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Perhaps it's worth mentioning here that it's okay to answer your own question from a single account (so that everyone knows what's going on). From the FAQ:

"It’s also OK to ask and answer your own question."

In fact, there's a specific button for it on the "Ask Question" page:

[x] Answer your own question – share your knowledge, Q&A-style

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    $\begingroup$ ...and earn the self-learner badge, maybe... $\endgroup$
    – draks ...
    Oct 12, 2012 at 5:44

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