Wikipedia rocked by 'rogue editors' blackmail scam targeting small businesses and celebrities
Wikipedia rocked by 'rogue editors' blackmail scam
targeting small businesses and celebrities
Exclusive: Company takes action against 'co-ordinated
group' of fraudsters
By JAMIE MERRILL & JONATHAN OWEN Wednesday 02 September 2015
Hundreds of small British businesses and minor
celebrities have been targeted by a sophisticated blackmail scam orchestrated
by “rogue editors” at Wikipedia, The Independent can reveal.
The victims, who range from a wedding photographer in
Dorset to a high-end jewellery shop in Shoreditch, east London, faced demands
for hundreds of pounds to “protect” or update Wikipedia pages about their
businesses. A former Britain’s Got Talent contestant was among dozens of
individuals targeted.
Wikipedia has taken action against what it described as
the “co-ordinated group” of fraudsters by blocking 381 accounts. An
investigation had found that the accounts were controlled by Wikipedia users
offering to change articles about companies and private individuals in exchange
for payment.
In some cases, the requests for money amounted to
blackmail, Wikipedia told The Independent.
The crackdown represents the culmination of a two-month
investigation, dubbed “Orangemoody” after the first questionable account was
identified earlier this year. It is suspected that many of the suspect accounts
were “sock puppets” – meaning they were controlled by the same person. The true
identity of the scammers – or scammer – is still unknown.
The scam worked by targeting firms struggling to get
pages about their businesses on Wikipedia. They were often told their articles
had been rejected due to concerns of excessive promotional content – although
in some cases the scammers themselves may have been the ones causing the
articles to be removed.
According to a Wikipedia insider, at this stage the
scammers would demand a payment of up to several hundred pounds to successfully
“re-post or re-surface” the article, and in some cases demanded an on-going
monthly payment to “protect” the articles. The fraudster usually claimed to be a Wikipedia editor or
administrator.
Wikipedia, which has grown to nearly five million English
articles since 2001, uses a team of more than 250,000 people to protect the
authenticity of its content. However the scam has underlined the weakness in
the website’s reliance on volunteers to create and edit its online content,
leaving it vulnerable to abuse.
Once the money was paid the article was then “reviewed”
by another Wikipedia user – in fact another of the scammers’ “sock puppet”
accounts – and moved to the “article space” section of Wikipedia, meaning it is
ready for publication.
The scam has resulted in Wikipedia blocking an additional
210 articles, many concerning UK businesses or notable people, on the basis
that they “were generally promotional in nature, and often included biased or
skewed information, unattributed material, and potential copyright violations.”
But Wikipedia has called on its users to “be kind to the
article subjects”, describing them as the “victims in this situation”.
One of the firms targeted was British holiday company
Quality Villas, in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. General manager Dan Thompson
explained how they were duped. He had tried to set up a page about the company
earlier this year, and a few days later was contacted by someone he believed to
be from or on behalf of Wikipedia.
The individual told Mr Thompson that his attempt to post
about his company had been “declined because of lack of notability and the
content up there did not meet Wiki requirements”. But the individual added: “I
will rewrite the content to make it Wiki acceptable using reliable references
available and I will use my privileges to publish it.”
Mr Thompson said: “The latter part, ‘my privileges’, led me
to believe I was dealing with someone at Wikipedia. I was grateful at the time
that they would rewrite the text to conform to standards and thanked them for
doing it. Shortly afterwards, a modified version was posted online. “The
‘editor’ presented me with a charge of $400 [£260] for the work. I duly paid
this, then the posting online was deleted again. Maybe I was naïve, but I
suspect I am not alone.”
Another small business targeted was the Little Citizens
Boutique, an online toy shop based in Holywood, Northern Ireland.
Online toy shop Little Citizens Boutique Online toy shop
Little Citizens Boutique
Alicia Peyrano, the website’s founder, said: “My
background is in journalism so I tried to write my own entry earlier this year
– and it got rejected. Then I was contacted by someone saying she had
experience writing in the Wikipedia style, and that she charged $150. She said
she was a published author with Wikipedia. I said OK and so she got it
published and then asked me for the money.”
Ms Peyrano added: “She must have been impersonating an
actual Wikipedia author. I was suspicious about the whole thing. It’s an online
scam, and we nearly fell for it – luckily we didn’t pay.”
It is not just companies who have been targeted. Amanda
Foster, a stunt double from Chelmsford, Essex, said: “I started a Wiki page
over a year ago and tried to get it online but without the knowledge of how to
add some of the content needed.” She was then approached with an offer of help.
“I was contacted by a lady via my Facebook page, claiming she worked for
Wikipedia and that she would do the necessary corrections.” Last week she paid
£29 to have a photograph put online. “I will now contest these payments as it
is clear I have been taken advantage of. I feel like I’ve been totally robbed.
I’m really annoyed by this, I really am.”
Paul Manners, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent
earlier this year, was also targeted. He said: “It’s quite sad that there are a
lot of nasty people in this world and I hope that Wikipedia see sense and
resolve it.”
In 2011 an investigation by The Independent revealed that
the PR firm Bell Pottinger had a team which “sorts” negative Wikipedia coverage
of its clients, prompting Wikipedia’s co-founder Jimmy Wales to attack the
“ethical blindness” of lobbying firms. In 2013 the website faced criticism
after it took the unprecedented action of blocking accounts of some 250 paid
lobbyists and “sock puppets”.
A Wikipedia spokesman 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.”
It is not explicitly forbidden for people to update
Wikipedia pages about themselves, their organisations or companies who pay them
– especially if this is to correct inaccurate information. But the site has
ethical guidelines designed to discourage abuse.
Worldwide victims
From singer-songwriters to stunt doubles, hi-tech
companies to toy shops, the elaborate con has targeted individuals and
companies around the globe.
In Britain, the victims range from Tiffany Wright, the
romance expert and glossy magazine journalist for Grazia and Cosmo, to singer
Paul Manners, a former Britain’s Got Talent contestant. Several wedding
photography companies are also on the
list of pages deleted by Wikipedia – alongside the WaterWorld Waterpark
in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
Many of those affected run small businesses, such as
Rachel Entwistle, a jewellery designer from London. A spokesman for the
jeweller described the scam as “really disconcerting” and “a whole world I’ve
never heard of”.
Other British businesses caught out range from Primo
Vape, which sells liquids for e-cigarettes, to the VeggieMatchMakers website.
But large companies have been targeted too.
A spokesman for Creme Global, a software company based in
Dublin, said: “A person claiming to be a legitimate Wikipedia member contacted
us about writing a Wikipedia page for the company. As far as I can see, many
companies were affected and we are as eager as anyone else to get to the bottom
of this.”
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