Sockpuppet Detection: a Telegram case study

Abstract: In Online Social Networks (OSN) numerous are the cases in which users create multiple accounts that publicly seem to belong to different people but are actually fake identities of the same person. These fictitious characters can be exploited to carry out abusive behaviors such as manipulating opinions, spreading fake news and disturbing other users. In literature this problem is known as the Sockpuppet problem. In our work we focus on Telegram, a wide-spread instant messaging application, often known for its exploitation by members of organized crime and terrorism, and more in general for its high presence of people who have offensive behaviors.