{"id":148286,"date":"2015-09-02T12:50:52","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T12:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=148286"},"modified":"2015-09-02T11:38:49","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T11:38:49","slug":"wikipedia-blocks-scam-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/09\/wikipedia-blocks-scam-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"Wikipedia blocks ‘scam’ accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wikipedia has blocked 381 accounts for what it has called “black hat” editing – people being paid to create promotional articles without disclosing who they represent.<\/p>\n
The accounts were reportedly run by one “co-ordinated group”.<\/p>\n
Most of the articles were related to businesses, business people, or artists.<\/p>\n
Some of the businesses alleged that they had been scammed by the rogue editors,Wikipedia said.<\/p>\n
Volunteer editors on English Wikipedia announced the move after weeks of probing.<\/p>\n
The investigation, called “Orangemoody” after the first rogue account identified, revealed that the suspect accounts were “sock puppets” – a term that refers to people creating fake online identities to promote a certain viewpoint, often while having a personal or paid interest.<\/p>\n