"Wikipedia Freedom Fighter" emailing inactive admins, "Currently expanding portfolio of administrator accounts" Options

[Mike R]

Caught this on WikiEn-l today:

Someone with the account Wp freedom fighter (T-C-L-K-R-D) has been emailing inactive admins with the following message:

Dear X,

We notice you haven't edited Wikipedia for some time. Perhaps you grew disillusioned with the project after seeing the corruption and bureaucracy at every level? If so, why not help us to help you. We are currently expanding our portfolio of administrator accounts, and as yours remains dormant perhaps you could consider donating it to us - to do so will take you only two minutes: change the password (if desired) and then reply to this email with your login details. We'll do the rest!

Thank you for your time and consideration, and naturally do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

The Wikipedia Freedom Fighters

The account has been blocked from sending emails, but they can easily register another account and resume.

[Danny]

I just got an email from them. It said: "We notice you haven't edited Wikipedia for some time. Perhaps you grew disillusioned with the project after seeing the corruption and bureaucracy at every level?"

I wrote them back: "Do you have any idea who I am?"

Caught this on WikiEn-l today:

Someone with the account Wp freedom fighter (T-C-L-K-R-D) has been emailing inactive admins with the following message:

Dear X,

We notice you haven't edited Wikipedia for some time. Perhaps you grew disillusioned with the project after seeing the corruption and bureaucracy at every level? If so, why not help us to help you. We are currently expanding our portfolio of administrator accounts, and as yours remains dormant perhaps you could consider donating it to us - to do so will take you only two minutes: change the password (if desired) and then reply to this email with your login details. We'll do the rest!

Thank you for your time and consideration, and naturally do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

The Wikipedia Freedom Fighters

The account has been blocked from sending emails, but they can easily register another account and resume.

[GlassBeadGame]

I wrote them back: "Do you have any idea who I am?"

The "Grants Administrator" who never wrote a grant?

[Somey]

The "Grants Administrator" who never wrote a grant?

He must have written at least two or three grant requests at some point or other, surely? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/unsure.gif)

Anyway, I suppose it's possible that Mr. Zenwhat (who, if he isn't Grace Note (T-C-L-K-R-D) , could easily be mistaken for his twin brother) is behind these e-mails. But I'm afraid there are all sorts of people who despise both Wikipedia and Wikipedia Review, and the idea of obtaining WP administrator accounts through surreptitious means is hardly original, much less revolutionary.

Having said that, I'm sure Mr. Freedom Fighter will make good use of the accounts, no doubt ensuring that freedom will reign on Wikipedia for many years to come! (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif)

[GlassBeadGame]

The "Grants Administrator" who never wrote a grant?

He must have written at least two or three grant requests at some point or other, surely? (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/unsure.gif)

Not according to the then Board Chairperson of WMF.

On the not so positive side, we should be able to raise much more than
we are currently doing, in particular from big companies and big
charities. Afaik, no grants were seeked in the past months. And no
formal feedback was offered in regards to last fundraising.

[Somey]

Not according to the then Board Chairperson of WMF.

On the not so positive side, we should be able to raise much more than
we are currently doing, in particular from big companies and big
charities. Afaik, no grants were seeked in the past months. And no
formal feedback was offered in regards to last fundraising.

Hmm... Maybe, but then again, maybe it would be best if Danny could clarify this for us. Given that Florence's English isn't all that great, or at least not good enough for her to know about the word "sought," it's always possible that some grant requests may have been written up and/or prepared, but not signed-off on by Jimbo or whoever the Executive Director would have been at the time.

Then again, I'd probably like Mr. Wool more if I knew for a fact that he hadn't done much of anything to steer grant money into the WMF, and away from much more worthy efforts such as studies of penguin behavior in Antarctica or psychoemotional stability surveys involving drag queens.