Orangemoody editing of Wikipedia

On August 31, 2015, the English Wikipedia community discovered 381 sockpuppet accounts operating a secret paid editing ring. Participants in the ring extorted money from mid-sized businesses who had articles about themselves rejected. Nicknamed "Orangemoody" after the first account uncovered, it was Wikipedia's biggest conflict-of-interest scandal at the time,[1] exceeding the scope of the Wiki-PR editing of Wikipedia incident in which approximately 250 sockpuppets were found and blocked in 2013.

The story was reported by hundreds of English language and non-English language news sources, including Komsomolskaya Pravda, Le Temps,[2] Le Monde and Die Zeit.[3][4][5] The editing was described by various media as "black hat" editors (TechCrunch),[6] "dishonest editing" (PC World),[7] "extortion"[8] (Wired),[9] a "blackmail scam" (The Independent),[10] and an "extensive cybercrime syndicate" (ThinkProgress).[11]

History

In 2015, administrators of the English Wikipedia blocked 381 accounts,[12][13] many of them suspected of being sockpuppets of the same group of people, after a two-month investigation launched by Wikipedia editors.[14] More than 200 Wikipedia articles created from the accounts were deleted.[15]

Wikipedia's resulting investigation, named "Orangemoody" after the first account uncovered, found that sockpuppets had searched the site for deleted or rejected articles about businesses and individuals.[16] Many of the articles had been deleted because of excessive promotional content. The editors, some posing as Wikipedia administrators, would then extort[17] payment from the businesses to publish and protect the articles. Besides businesses, individuals were targeted, including Cuban musician Dayramir Gonzalez.[17][18] The scammers themselves may have been involved in the deletion of some articles.[10]

References
  1. "Wikipedia's biggest scandal: Industrial-scale blackmail", The Register, September 3, 2015
  2. "Victime de fraude et d'extorsion, Wikipédia ferme 381 comptes de faux contributeurs". Le Temps (in French). Switzerland. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  3. Саша ПЯТНИЦКАЯ (Sasha Pyatnitskaya) (September 1, 2015), "Англоязычная Wikipedia заблокировала более 380 редакторов за "корыстные" правки" [The English Wikipedia has blocked more than 380 editors for "selfish" edits], Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian)
  4. "381 comptes de Wikipédia bannis pour extorsion", Le Monde (in French), Paris, 2015-09-02, retrieved 2015-09-06
  5. "Wikipedia: Schutzgelderpressung in der Online-Enzyklopädie" [Wikipedia: protection racket in the online encyclopedia], Zeit Online (in German), Die Zeit, 2015-09-01, retrieved 2015-09-06
  6. Perez, Sarah (2015-09-01), "Wikipedia Bans Hundreds Of "Black Hat" Paid Editors Who Created Promotional Pages On Its Site", TechCrunch, retrieved 2015-09-06
  7. Ribeiro, John (2015-09-01), "Wikipedia bans 381 user accounts for dishonest editing", PC World, retrieved 2015-09-06
  8. Chiel, Ethan (2015-09-01). "Wikipedia editors just banned 381 accounts over a huge fraud and extortion scandal". Fusion TV. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  9. Technology (2015-09-01), "381 Wikipedia "sockpuppet" accounts banned for paid promotion", Wired (UK), retrieved 2015-09-06
  10. Merrill, Jamie (2015-09-02), "Wikipedia 'rogue editors' have targeted hundreds of people in a blackmail scam", The Independent, archived from the original on 2015-09-14, retrieved 2017-09-07 – via WebCite
  11. Williams, Lauren C. (2015-09-04), "Wikipedia Editors Uncover Extortion Scam And Extensive Cybercrime Syndicate", ThinkProgress, archived from the original on 2016-07-26, retrieved 2015-09-06
  12. Pearson, Jordan (2015-09-01). "Hundreds of Wikipedia Accounts Got Banned for Secretly Promoting Brands". Vice. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  13. Kravets, David (2015-09-01). "Wikipedia blocks hundreds of linked accounts for suspect editing". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  14. Moyer, Justin Wm (2015-09-02). "Wikipedia sting snares hundreds of accounts used for paid editing". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  15. Dredge, Stuart. "Wikipedia founder backs site's systems after extortion scam". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  16. King, Robin Levinson (2015-09-02). "Wikipedia bans users for not disclosing they got paid to edit articles". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  17. Weaver, Matthew. "Wikipedia blocks editor accounts linked to extortion scam". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  18. Coolman, Robert (2015-09-05). "I Was Shaken Down by Wikipedia's Blackmail Bandits". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
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