Wikipedia Issues

Wikipedia Blocks Editor Accounts Linked to Extortion Scam

Rogue editors charged businesses and celebrities for Wikipedia entries and demanded ‘protection money’ to prevent changes online

Matthew Weaver | September 2, 2015

A Wikipedia scam in which small businesses have been charged “protection money” to safeguard pages about their organisations has prompted the online encyclopaedia to block 381 editor accounts.

Example of Wikipedia Blocking. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/

The Wikipedia Foundation said the accounts were blocked over “black hat” editing – charging money for the creation of promotional articles – amid allegations that hundreds of businesses and minor celebrities have been blackmailed by scammers posing as Wikipedia administrators.

<more at http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/02/wikipedia-blocks-editor-accounts-linked-to-extortion-scam; related links: https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/08/31/wikipedia-accounts-blocked-paid-advocacy/ (Hundreds of “black hat” English Wikipedia accounts blocked following investigation. August 31, 2015) and http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/01/wikipedia-bans-hundreds-of-black-hat-paid-editors-who-created-promotional-pages-its-site/ (Wikipedia Bans Hundreds Of “Black Hat” Paid Editors Who Created Promotional Pages On Its Site. September 2, 2015)>