Wikipedia:Scam warning/Banner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scam warning: Scammers have been reported contacting new editors and offering Wikipedia "assistance" or "services" in exchange for payment.

Some may pretend to be Wikipedia volunteers or claim to represent "professional" public relations firms and contact you to ask for payment in exchange for their "services" – such as writing and publishing an article for you, getting a draft article accepted quickly, preventing or reversing the deletion of an article, or protecting an article from changes. These paid "services" are scams.

  • Help from real Wikipedia volunteers is always free. They will never ask for money or any other compensation.
  • No one can guarantee that an article will be accepted or "protected"; any such "guarantees" are complete lies.

If someone contacts you offering paid services:

  • Do not respond to them. Immediately stop all contact and block them from contacting you further.
  • Do not share any personal information and never share your Wikipedia account password.
  • Do not click on any links, download any files, or open any files that they send to you.
  • Do not send any money or follow any of their instructions.

What to do instead:

  • Forward the entire conversation, including email headers, to paid-en-wp@wikipedia.org.
  • If you shared your Wikipedia account password, change your Wikipedia password immediately and consider enabling two-factor authentication.
  • If you clicked on any links or opened any files they sent you, consider running a full malware scan on your device.

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