Online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, has been hit by a blackmail scandal with ‘rogue editors’ charging small businesses and minor celebrities hundreds of pounds to ‘protect’ pages from defamatory content, it has emerged.
The scam, which is said to have affected high street businesses from Dorset to Northern Ireland and a former Britain’s Got Talent contestant, saw tricksters charge people in exchange for amending and updating their promotional pages, Daily Mail reports.
Wikipedia, which is edited entirely by volunteers and contains nearly five million articles, has now blocked 381 user accounts for ‘black hat’ editing.
It said the accounts were suspended after an internal investigation found they were engaged in ‘undisclosed paid advocacy’, a violation of the website’s terms which bans users from accepting payment to promote external interest.
Wikipedia said that as a result of the two-month investigation, dubbed ‘Orangemoody’, the website had also deleted 210 articles created by the rogue users.
Most of these articles, which were related to businesses, business people, or artists, were generally promotional in nature, and often included biased or skewed information, unattributed material, and potential copyright violations, Wikipedia said.
They had been created or amended by the ‘sockpuppet accounts’ – a term which refers to multiple accounts used by one person or a group in misleading or deceptive ways – in return for payment from the unknowing victims.
In some instances, the fraudsters’ demands for money from companies or private individuals amounted to blackmail, Wikipedia said.
The website branded the scam an ‘abuse of trust’ and said it believes those responsible were a ‘coordinated group’.
A spokesman for Wikimedia – the voluntary body which runs Wikipedia – said: ‘Neutrality is key to ensuring Wikipedia’s quality. Although it does not happen often, undisclosed paid advocacy editing may represent a serious conflict of interest and could compromise the quality of content on Wikipedia.
‘We are dismayed to learn about how well-intentioned people have been misled. This runs counter to the values to which we aspire and celebrate.
‘The Wikimedia Foundation supports independence, transparency, and integrity, and aspires to advance those values in the world.
‘People who abuse the trust and goodwill of others are committing a terrible act. We will continue to work to support our editors and administrators in serving as a vigilant defence against such incidents and in hopes that they can prevent future incidents like this from occurring.’
It said the banned users had received one of the ‘highest forms of disciplinary action administered by Wikipedia’ but said that while users will no longer be able to edit pages, they could still access the site as the block is based on individual accounts and not IP addresses.
The matter has not yet been reported to police, but Wikipedia said an internal investigation remains ongoing into the ‘origin of the malicious accounts’.
Source: Daily Mail
