Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard/Bell Pottinger COI Investigations
It emerged in early December 2011 that accounts operated by Bell Pottinger, a British PR firm, had been extensively editing Wikipedia to further their clients' interests. This page attempts to identify and remove these edits.
So far, eleven accounts are confirmed to have been operated by the firm, and several more cannot be confirmed but have suspicious editing records. The list is probably not complete - please let us know on the discussion page if you have found others.
The affected articles are listed below, grouped into clusters by topic. It should not be considered a list of clients, and there may be false positives.
Article list
[edit]The articles below are the complete contributions to articles by the confirmed Bell Pottinger accounts: Biggleswiki (talk · contribs) ; Charlesstewart99 (talk · contribs) ; Diginerd84 (talk · contribs) ; Pipsster (talk · contribs) ; Smythej (talk · contribs) ; GBSewnli (talk · contribs); Ejbsnow (talk · contribs) ; Techboy1900 (talk · contribs) ; Illyhawaii (talk · contribs) ; Awb44 (talk · contribs) ; Slaine1 (talk · contribs) ; and 109.231.203.194 (talk · contribs). Other edits are not currently included.
The list does not show deleted edits, or edits to discussion pages, etc. Check individual user contributions for those.
Sorted
[edit]Paramount Group
[edit]All dealt with |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
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Abiraterone / Prostate Centre
[edit]All dealt with |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
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Individual people (and articles connected to them)
[edit]- Abdul Taib Mahmud: (Biggleswiki made 10 edits, 4 major, +619) (+172)(-2091)(+381)(+39)(+152)(+134)(+14)(-718)(+22)(+619) ; (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, -760) (-760) Done. Reverted to a version before most of Bell Pottinger's involvement. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:22, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Carlyon Bay: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +569) (+569)(+31)(-2)(+2) – Done. Poor response: NPOV violation and puffery remained unnoticed for >5 weeks. Hans Adler 19:04, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Chris Murray (property): (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, -239) (-239) Done removal of text describing the spouse of a business partner of Chris Murrey. Legitimate removal, whatever the motives. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:32, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Clare Rewcastle Brown: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +1188) (+1188) Done by User:Yk Yk Yk in August. Kilopi (talk) 22:12, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Ridgeford Properties: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 2 major, +711) (+127)(+434)(+711)
- Sakto Corporation: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +3898) (+3898) - Done - send to AfD. Highly positive new article on company with unclear notability left up for 8 months. — Mr. Stradivarius ♫ 11:28, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
- Sarawak: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +944) (+944)(-2) - Done. Copyvio went undetected on page with 54 watchers. Gobonobo T C 17:01, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Sean Murray (property): (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, -3) (-3) Done - formatting, okay. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:46, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- St Austell: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +498) (+498) ; (Diginerd84 made 2 edits, 0 major, +25) (+25)(+10) Done - Information inserted wasn't unduly promotional, and passed muster. However, I have reworded the sentence slightly, just in case. The Cavalry (Message me) 16:52, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Arkadiy Abramovich: (Charlesstewart99 made 2 edits, 1 major, +1625) (+1625)(-1) - Done IMO this has questionable notability, but it survived a sock-free AfD. Removed some extraneous and non-verified material. ThemFromSpace 22:21, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Boris Berezovsky (businessman): (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +524) (+524) ; (Diginerd84 made 5 edits, 2 major, +524) (-269)(+524)(-368)(+368)(-368) Done Most of the edits were fairly innocuous; those that weren't seem to have been edited out since; article has a {{COI}} tag on it. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:06, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Brian Menell: (Diginerd84 made 7 edits, 2 major, +4893) (-121)(+4893)(+5)(+882)(+115)(+38)(+43) Done Wholesale revert back to before Diginers87's involvement (and that of a dodgy-looking IP). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 01:09, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Bruce Craig: (Diginerd84 made 8 edits, 3 major, +3043) (+695)(+4)(0)(-195)(-4)(+3043)(+218)(+81) Done. Deleted. Just a puff piece for a marginally notable businessman. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:01, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Bath Rugby: (Diginerd84 made 2 edits, 2 major, +862) (+862)(+265) - Done Cleaned some promotional/excessive language. ThemFromSpace 22:44, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Johnny Sandelson: (GBSewnlim made 4 edits, 2 major, +5948) (+5948)(+36)(+638)(-43) ; (Biggleswiki made 4 edits, 1 major, +156) (0)(+156)(+16)(-30) ; (Diginerd84 made 19 edits, 1 major, +304) (+1)(+122)(+13)(+304)(-1)(+45)(0)(+5)(+8)(-20)(-42)(+15)(+1)(+8)(+8)(+30)(+12)(+8)(-7) ; also Johnny sandelson: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +30) (+30) Done Puff piece, only significant contributions were from BP accounts. Deleted. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 01:16, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Blenheim Palace: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +715) (+715)(-8)(+1) – Done. Poor response: Well-frequented article with 79 watchers ended with bizarre coatrack for >5 weeks. Hans Adler 16:39, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Entrepreneur: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +38) (+38) - Done. Addition of name to list of entrepreneurs went uncontested. Gobonobo T C 16:51, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Institute of Contemporary Arts: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +46) (+46) Done Promotional name-drop (subject's article also deleted). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 01:16, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Alexander Nesis: (Awb44 made 2 edits, 1 major, +10500) (+10500)(+4) ; (109.231.203.194 made 2 edits, 1 major, +340) (+340)(+4) Done. Toned down the language and trimmed a bit, but nothing too major. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 20:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- ICT Group (Russia): (Awb44 made 5 edits, 4 major, +15539) (+340)(+15539)(+229)(+279)(-9) ; (109.231.203.194 made 3 edits, 1 major, +253) (-43)(+253)(+4) Done. Reverted to an earlier version. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 20:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Ivor Ichikowitz: (Biggleswiki made 8 edits, 3 major, +13226) (+13226)(+4)(+469)(-2)(+22)(-4)(+665)(-4) Done. Deleted. Advert for Paramount Group. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:24, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- African National Congress: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 2 major, +321) (+321)(+321)(-321) - Done Editor self-reverted. ThemFromSpace 22:50, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- United Nations: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +413) (+413) - Done Off-topic material removed. ThemFromSpace 22:48, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Victor Dahdaleh: (Biggleswiki made 8 edits, 5 major, +988) (-253)(+195)(+732)(+351)(-97)(+542)(+988)(-146) ; (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +759) (-593)(+759)(-915) ; also Victor Phillip Dahdaleh: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +2608) (+2608) Done both deleted—almost no involvement other than by BP accounts. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 18:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- London School of Economics: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +1593) (+1593) - Done Removed promotional name-drop. ThemFromSpace 23:08, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Elizabeth II: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +700) (+700) - Done Material already removed. ThemFromSpace 23:08, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Fred Halliday: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +857) (+857) - Done Material already removed. ThemFromSpace 23:08, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Macdonald House, London: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +413) (+413)(+1) - Done I removed the irrelevant, promotional addition. ThemFromSpace 23:10, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Henk Rottinghuis: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +1951) (+1951)(+84)(+36)(0) Done Article deleted. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- International Federation for Equestrian Sports: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +226) (+226) Done Edit was rapidly reverted. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:59, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Princess Haya bint Al Hussein: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +69) (+69) Done Promotional name-drop, long since removed. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 01:02, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Barbara, Lady Judge: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 0 major, -4) (-17)(-4) ; (Diginerd84 made 5 edits, 1 major, +6152) (+6152)(-1)(+13)(0)(+10) Done. I had to rewrite the article completely based on sources that were hidden between countless clones of her cleansed and sugarcoated CV. Someone has done an excellent job of hiding significant chunks of her history (Charles Keating scandal and private equity). Hans Adler 00:14, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
- UK Trade & Investment: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +116) (+116) - Done. Linking article. Shimgray | talk | 22:16, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Securities and Exchange Commission appointees: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +25) (+25) - Done. Linking article. Shimgray | talk | 22:16, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Order of the Coif: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +38) (+38) Not done Not promotional. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 20:06, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority: (Biggleswiki made 4 edits, 0 major, +141) (+141)(+10)(+30)(+4) - Done One of the less subtle links to after dinner speakers for hire. Promotional mention removed. Yomanganitalk 12:35, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
Individual organizations and products
[edit]- Aspire Drinks Done. Nominated for deletion; non-notable product, full of dubious health claims and advertising. Community didn't notice this one, although one user did try and balance the article by pointing out the absurdity of the claims. The Cavalry (Message me) 17:05, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Holland & Barrett: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +262) (+262)(+135) Already done by The Cavalry. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 23:28, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Leeds Metropolitan University: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +1008) (+1008) - Done. Promotional insertion lasted 7 months, now removed. Polequant (talk) 12:07, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Selfridges: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +335) (+335) - Done. Promotional edit for Aspire was deleted one month after its introduction. Gobonobo T C 08:24, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Dahabshiil: (Biggleswiki made 12 edits, 9 major, +10600) (+1248)(+169)(+3860)(+10600)(+2034)(+1120)(+5)(0)(-4)(+1781)(+150)(+2419)
- Abdirashid Duale: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +2538) (+2538) - Done. Promotional additions, puffery was uncontested. Gobonobo T C 05:53, 9 December 2011 (UTC) [[#ref_{{{1}}}|^]] Sent to AfD—Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dahabshiil. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 23:59, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Thresher & Glenny: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 1 major, +9776) (+9776)(-106)(-1) Done. Deleted. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 23:46, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Trench coat: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +283) (+283) - Done. Promotional claim was uncontested. Gobonobo T C 05:59, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Kadikoi: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 1 major, +320) (+320)(+27)(+3) - Done. Plug for T&G from August 8 uncontested. Gobonobo T C 08:18, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- CityFibre Holdings: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +5094) (+5094)(+36) - Done. Article created by BP; deleted as unambiguous advertising. Gobonobo T C 05:37, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Fibrecity Holdings: (Biggleswiki made 4 edits, 0 major, +33) (-141)(+33)(-33)(+5)
- H20 Networks: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +3894) (+3894)(+12) ; (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +27) (+27) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 05:50, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Currencies Direct: (Diginerd84 made 5 edits, 1 major, +13514) (+13514)(+14)(-2853)(-2304)(+28)
- The Earth Awards: (Diginerd84 made 7 edits, 1 major, +6728) (+6728)(0)(+71)(+52)(-1)(-5)(-27)
- Nicole Ting-Yap: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +2455) (+2455)(+82)(+93) - Done Once the Earth Award stuff and unsupported claims were removed it became a one-line stub, so I've redirected it. Yomanganitalk 12:23, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Karena Albers: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +2399) (+2399)(+4)(+82)(+96)
- Arthur Huang: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +1754) (+1754)(-2)(+55)(+78) - Done article created has no promotional language but borderline notability, now tagged as such. ThemFromSpace 22:37, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- The Biomimicry Institute: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +2766) (+2766)(+41)(+80) - Done Most of the article was copyvio, but the institute looks notable at least. Yomanganitalk 00:37, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Michael Ramage: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 2 major, +2852) (+2852)(+160)(+87)(+37) Nominated for deletion here.
- Jamie Lim (designer): (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +2267) (+2267)(+65)(+90)(+62)
- David Wendell: (Diginerd84 made 8 edits, 2 major, +2553) (+2553)(+2)(+238)(-55)(-14)(+33)(+43)(+19)
- Common Purpose UK: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +7232) (-6640)(-25)(-169)(+7232)
- Julia Middleton: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +5374) (+5374)
- Robert Peston: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +412) (+412) Done, mostly harmless sentence about his support of Common Purpose was added. I have since removed it. The Cavalry (Message me) 05:50, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Moletest: (1 edits, 0 major, +61) (+61) Done Harmless. Rich Farmbrough, 14:30, 11 December 2011 (UTC).
- Melanocytic nevus: (6 edits, 2 major, +1240) (-1911)(+1240)(+74)(+711)(-4)(-13) - Done. Optimal. Identified as spam and reverted within 24 hours. Gobonobo T C 14:17, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Melanoma: (14 edits, 6 major, +924) (+924)(-16)(+154)(+643)(+362)(+163)(+130)(+1)(+44)(-48)(0)(+232)(-4)(-13) - Done. Promotional edits for Moletest from September 5 were uncontested. Gobonobo T C 05:21, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
Uncontentious changes
[edit]Unsorted
[edit]- Big Hole: (109.231.203.194 made 3 edits, 0 major, +45) (0)(+45)(-41) Done - correcting a typo, wikilinking extant content. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:19, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Bell Pottinger Group: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +5501) (+5501)(+2)(-121)
- Canadian Affair: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +118) (+118) ; (Diginerd84 made 5 edits, 2 major, +3481) (+1809)(+3481)(+40)(+14)(+40)
- Cash for Honours: (Biggleswiki made 4 edits, 0 major, +135) (-20)(+135)(+84)(+19) ; (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +157) (+157) - Done Correction: This edit sneakily removed mention of Henry Angest of Arbuthnot Banking from the Cash for Honours scandal, labelling it as an uncontroversial edit with a misleading edit summary. The Cavalry (Message me) 08:16, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth: (Biggleswiki made 5 edits, 2 major, +8316) (-203)(+8316)(+25)(+120)(+1034)
- Chime Communications (United Kingdom): (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +262) (+262) ; (109.231.203.194 made 2 edits, 0 major, +134) (-126)(+134) Done Biggleswiki added referenced info an a Chime acquisition. 109.231 added amended number of staff and details of offices, and added details of two more subsidiaries, without references. Changes remain in the article but appear to me to be benign. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:26, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Chime Ventures: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +3347) (+3347)
- Chris White (saxophonist): (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +607) (+607) - Done. Promotional edit with link for The 1945 unchallenged since April. Gobonobo T C 11:06, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Dave Courtney: (Biggleswiki made 9 edits, 1 major, +1282) (+1282)(+1)(+25)(+2)(-2)(-74)(-5)(+1)(+38) ; (109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 1 major, +159) (+159)
- Dominic Noonan: (Biggleswiki made 7 edits, 1 major, +2553) (+2553)(+10)(+13)(+5)(+6)(+4)(+12)
- Ethnography: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +401) (+401) - Done Edit already undone.
- Frankie Fraser: (Biggleswiki made 5 edits, 3 major, +1793) (+368)(+12)(+1793)(+21)(+215) - Done Edits attempted to resolve "citation needed" flags, apparently without any other intent. A few dodgy sources now removed, but it's not one of our better articles anyway. Yomanganitalk 12:12, 13 December 2011 (UTC)
- Gerald Howarth: (Awb44 made 2 edits, 0 major, 0) (0)(0) - Done Edit corrected external link. Yomanganitalk 15:01, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Gillmor Gang: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +34) (+34) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 04:12, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Guisborough Helmet: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +11) (+11) - Done Unnecessary but harmless wiklink. Yomanganitalk 14:55, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- HemiHelp: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +7242) (+7242) Done nominated for deletion Kilopi (talk) 22:12, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Human Relief Foundation: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 0 major, +19) (+19)(-4) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 04:38, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Ian Mills: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 2 major, +2161) (+2161)(+221)(+21) ; also Ian mills: (Diginerd84 made 6 edits, 2 major, +1970) (+1970)(-12)(+60)(+80)(+220)(+22)
- Imperial College London: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +70) (+70) - Done Insertion of COO of Libra Group to "Notable Alumni" undone after one month. Yomanganitalk 15:10, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Internal communications: (109.231.203.194 made 2 edits, 2 major, +217) (+217)(+182)
- Johnny Vegas: (109.231.203.194 made 2 edits, 0 major, -1) (-1)(-1) Done - argument over date of birth, reverted within 9 minutes. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:12, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- KSK Energy Ventures Limited: (109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 0 major, +1) (+1) Done - correcting a typo --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:14, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Lalit Modi: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 2 major, +2148) (+2146)(+7)(+2148) ; (Diginerd84 made 6 edits, 2 major, +7389) (-494)(+7389)(-535)(-1698)(+240)(+43)
- LBG: (109.231.203.194 made 2 edits, 0 major, +107) (+107)(+6) Done - addition of EL to disambiguation page. Removed two days later. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:17, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Lease Corporation International: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 0 major, +8) (+8)(-4) ; (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +8019) (+8019) ;
(109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 0 major, +2) (+2) Done Article rolled back to pre-BP state by User:Gobonobo. Rich Farmbrough, 14:49, 11 December 2011 (UTC).
- Libra Group: (Biggleswiki made 5 edits, 2 major, +438) (+187)(-66)(+438)(-92)(+92) ; (Diginerd84 made 21 edits, 5 major, +7686) (+7686)(-158)(+774)(+27)(+278)(+330)(+32)(+197)(-1)(-63)(+21)(+1)(+1)(+53)(+148)(+64)(+17)(+3)(+72)(+3)(-5)
- Lions (rugby union): (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +263) (+263)(+4) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 07:23, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- List of University of Pennsylvania people: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 2 major, +227) (+211)(+7)(+227) Done Addition of Barbara, Lady Judge. She remains listed as added, but presuming she is a Penn alumni, this seems fine. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:37, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- London Chamber Orchestra: (Biggleswiki made 5 edits, 2 major, +1666) (+1666)(-13)(+1036)(-6)(0)
- Michael Ancram: (109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 0 major, +64) (+64) Done - added inline EL to Global Strategy Forum; reverted today thus lasted just less than a year. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:41, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Mikhail Gorbachev: (Diginerd84 made 2 edits, 1 major, +489) (+489)(+135) - Done. Minor edit promoting 80th birthday party. Gobonobo T C 05:34, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Mikheil Saakashvili: (Diginerd84 made 2 edits, 2 major, +1408) (+1408)(+1323) - Done. Additions of protests critical of Saakashvili were reverted same day. Gobonobo T C 06:20, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Mopani Copper Mine: (Awb44 made 21 edits, 3 major, +22710) (+22710)(0)(-2)(+60)(+24)(+60)(+61)(+28)(+9)(+11)(+16)(+7)(+26)(+26)(+72)(-11)(+150)(+95)(0)(+1033)(-2) ; (Smythej made 1 edits, 0 major, +37) (+37) ; also Mopani mine: (Awb44 made 1 edits, 0 major, +32) (+32)
- Mr. Goemon: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +344) (+344)(-32) Done - Addition of legit references. Yay! Biggleswiki is an old school games when he's not shilling. Additions remain in the article. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:44, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Mytrah Energy: (Pipsster made 23 edits, 4 major, +1126) (+1126)(+2)(+1)(-5)(-25)(-6)(-17)(+272)(+1046)(0)(+143)(+137)(+56)(-2)(+108)(+60)(-14)(+554)(+1)(-24)(-14)(+14)(+56) – Done. Suboptimal response: Spammy article on barely notable company superficially wikified and former name added. Copyvio missed. Hans Adler 14:53, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Naked Eye Research: (Biggleswiki made 6 edits, 2 major, +3313) (+547)(-8)(+3313)(+1)(-142)(-122)
- Natures Way Foods: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +1589) (+1589) - Done. Sounded like an advert. Polequant (talk) 15:38, 8 December 2011 (UTC) I have also AfDed this, for a few more opinions - not sure if it's notable. The Cavalry (Message me) 16:10, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Nidareid train disaster: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, -15) (-15) - Done. Edit was good. Thryduulf (talk) 12:21, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- North Yorkshire: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +30) (+30) - Done. Edit just wikified a link or two. Yomanganitalk 12:26, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Northwestern University in Qatar: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 2 major, +17013) (+17013)(+161)
- Online reputation management: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 1 major, +732) (+732)(-41)(-28) - Done You have to admire the barefaced cheek of editing an article to describe your modus operandi. Only some innocuous refs added. Looks fairly accurate, but then it would do. Yomanganitalk 01:41, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Paul Polman: (Pipsster made 2 edits, 1 major, +304) (+304)(+89) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 07:09, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Pension Protection Fund: (Biggleswiki made 5 edits, 0 major, +121) (+72)(+121)(0)(+3)(+1) Done Added chairperson, Barbara Judge, with a ref. Seems acceptable/valid. Chzz ► 08:01, 12 December 2011 (UTC)
- Provident Financial: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 1 major, +1091) (+1091) - Done - Information inserted wasn't unduly promotional and some wikilinks improved article. Several spam links to company financial & product details removed Leaky Caldron 17:54, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- WT:Articles for creation/Ravi kailas – Done. OK response: AfC was declined on notability grounds, but copyvo not noticed. Hans Adler 15:16, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Richard Hamilton (artist): (109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 0 major, +74) (+74) Done "Uncontentious" (more correctly, 'unrelated' to this investigation) - added date of death without ref; reverted within half hour; later confirmed as true by others) Chzz ► 07:42, 12 December 2011 (UTC)
- Robert Langmead: (Biggleswiki made 3 edits, 1 major, +312) (+100)(-1)(+312) ; (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 4 major, +2629) (+976)(+2629)(+2629)(+2629) - Done. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robert Langmead (2nd nomination) swayed by Pottinger accounts. Not sure about User:Martinj1973 - editing focused on this article and Natures Way Foods. Have redirected to article on company. Polequant (talk) 15:26, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Rob Heanley: (Diginerd84 made 4 edits, 1 major, +2044) (+2044)(+1)(-1)(+4)
- Patiala House: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +59) (+59). Done - linking. Shimgray | talk | 22:51, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Rupiah Banda: (Smythej made 1 edits, 1 major, +771) (+771) - Done. Puffery from October 25 was uncontested. Gobonobo T C 04:35, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Safmarine: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, +137) (+137) - Done. Minor edit. Gobonobo T C 04:53, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
- Sheikh Hassan Enany: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 1 major, +2271) (+2271)
- Spencer Compton, 7th Marquess of Northampton: (Diginerd84 made 1 edits, 0 major, -204) (-204) Done Correct removal of stale tagged uncited fact. Rmhermen (talk) 00:26, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Standard Life: (14 edits, 4 major, +2714) (+2714)(+1)(-60)(-467)(-1783)(+1814)(+218)(+99)(+111)(+72)(-53)(+1807)(-32)(+119)
- Surbiton: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +89) (+89) Done Correctly unlinked redlink with external link provided instead. Rmhermen (talk) 23:53, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Templeton Prize: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +557) (+557)(+1) Done Legitimate edit. Rmhermen (talk) 23:53, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- TYIN Tegnestue: (Diginerd84 made 3 edits, 1 major, +3221) (+3221)(+28)(+87) - Done. Promotional article, but another article on same topic already exists, that doesn't appear to be by BP accounts so have redirected there. I'm still not sure about notability, so may be worth taking to AfD. Polequant (talk) 12:17, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Umbro: (Biggleswiki made 1 edits, 0 major, +85) (+85) Done Just wikilinking Rmhermen (talk) 00:00, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov: (Biggleswiki made 2 edits, 1 major, +1320) (+62)(+1320) ; (Diginerd84 made 13 edits, 6 major, +3232) (+3232)(+616)(-202)(+8)(+440)(+247)(-460)(+11)(-36)(+323)(+507)(+36)(+139)
- Yota: (Biggleswiki made 4 edits, 2 major, +1801) (+1801)(-3)(+626)(+12); (109.231.203.194 made 1 edits, 0 major, -1943) (-1943)
Possible but unconfirmed articles
[edit]These pages may or may not have been edited by Bell Pottinger operated accounts.
- AeroMobile
- Ajith Nivard Cabraal – Done (mostly). Poor response: Extreme puffery was not reduced in any way. (Still needs work from an someone knowledgeable in Sri Lankan economoy/politics.) Hans Adler 22:25, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
- Global Leadership Foundation
- Pelham Bell Pottinger
- Peter Carter-Ruck
- Standard Life - Done Seems fine now. Edit from 2009 by Sussex10 seemed promotional, removed now but remained for about 1.5 years unreferenced. (Connolly15 (talk) 16:55, 8 December 2011 (UTC))
- International Foundation for Civil Liberties: - foundation run by Alex Goldfarb, and which is funded by Boris Berezovsky - both are Bell Pottinger clients as per this and this. Refer to Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Boris_Berezovsky for more. Y u no be Russavia ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) 22:30, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
List of accounts
[edit]Bell Pottinger
[edit]- Biggleswiki (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- Charlesstewart99 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- Diginerd84 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- Pipsster (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- Smythej (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- GBSewnlim (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed No non-deleted edits. RF.
- Ejbsnow (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed No mainspace edits.
- Techboy1900 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed No non-deleted edits. RF.
- Illyhawaii (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed No edits.
- Awb44 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed Only edits that need checking are to
ICT Group (Russia)(revd) andMopani Copper Mine- all the rest look OK. Rich Farmbrough, 02:06, 12 December 2011 (UTC). - Slaine1 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Likely Filed as the master, as it is the oldest account. All non-deleted edits reverted back in 2008. RF.
- 109.231.203.194 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki). Note that the BP IP range (via a UK ISP) is 109.231.203.192 - 109.231.203.255; .194 is the only IP in this block to have non-deleted contributions on the English Wikipedia.
Chime Communications (Bell Pottinger parent company)
[edit]- Mofgl68 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
Unknown, but related
[edit]- Prguruguru (talk · contribs) may or may not be related. Blocked indefinitely.
- Sussex3 (talk · contribs) Stale, but behaviourally is a sock. With the following four accounts has only edited AeroMobile or madelinks to AeroMobile.
- Sussex10 (talk · contribs) Suspicious edit on Standard Life. Stale, similar username to Sussex3?
- DJBenson (talk · contribs) Stale, but behaviourally is a sock.
- Toolboxuser (talk · contribs) Stale, but behaviourally is a sock.
- AUK Marcomms (talk · contribs) Likely - Stale, but may be a sock. Done - COI for one article, all edits in [450782235=1&oldid=443075301 one chunk] seem innocuous updating of name, and minor detail. Rich Farmbrough, 15:10, 11 December 2011 (UTC).
- Martinj1973 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- Abenbow (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) - Stale, behaviourally is a sock.
- Emailed me post-mortem, requesting unblock and granted based on reasonable BP connection and lack of furtherance. Keegan (talk) 07:29, 2 March 2012 (UTC)
- Edwardrice87 (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) - Probably stale, behaviourally is a sock. RF.
Unrelated
[edit]- PropertyMike (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Unrelated technically, but edits still need checking
Technically unrelated to the above, but with a South African connection. Needs an experienced CU to check.
[edit]- Southwiki (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed sock of Drake ice
- Drake ice (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Confirmed
- Drake (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) possibly related Done No undeleted edits. Rich Farmbrough, 15:20, 11 December 2011 (UTC).
- PetersBah (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki) Unrelated technically, behaviourally suggestive.
I've indef'd all these accounts (and a few others I stumbled across during the cleanup process), with the exception of Martinj1973. Regardless of whether or not they belong to Bell Pottinger, they're all spammers and several of them are very obviously the same person. I left Martinj1973 because I can't be sure there—that account doesn't display the traits that some of the others have. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 02:20, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
- Southwiki and Drake ice are Confirmed as each other, and I have very good reason to believe that they are spammers. I also have good reason to believe that Drake (talk · contribs) is related, and I've indeffed them. PetersBah is Unrelated and most of the technical data is Stale, but I endorse the block. WilliamH (talk) 07:53, 9 December 2011 (UTC)