If the problem is "rounded numbers", here's why:
- when you give karma, the number you can give is determined by your own karma and time here and number of posts (I think...maybe some combination of two of those three, but one is your karma number)
- people with lots of karma can give lots of karma (thus bumping newer folk to high numbers)
- the number you can give is only the maximum you can give - you can modulate that number when you give
- as you can modulate that number, you can look at someone's karma and give them a precise amount to give them a "round number"
- a small, odd quirk in the karma-calculator says you can't give an odd number amount of karma, or is it even...I forget.
While I would never use definitive statements saying something has not been "hacked", the rounded numbers thing is easily explained by the above ability to modulate how much karma you give. It has often been an explicitly done thing when giving karma, as some of us are amused by "special" numbers (a non-decimal-pointed version of pi, for instance, or variations around a theme of "42").
But, yes, sockpuppets are banned immediately. It is also possible the person who created the sockpuppet will be banned immediately. The ModRoom has some tools of investigation available to it. Don't create sockpuppets.
Cheers,
Marc