[WikiEN-l] Most cunningly disguised spam yet?

[Angela]

On 2/1/07, Earle Martin <wikipedia at downlode.org> wrote:
> I just came across this user page:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:%24_London_Apartments
>
> (That %24 is a dollar sign.) Intrigued by the weird user name, I had a
> look - at first glance it's a regular user page. But as you read it
> more carefully, you discover the preponderance of certain words, like
> "London", "apartment", "rent", "renting", "house", and "first floor".
> As you get further down, you see a bunch of "useful" links to other
> sites, one of which is coincidentally called "London Apartments".
>
> A glance at the user contributions shows almost nothing but
> modifications to their own page, despite what the text on the page
> claims. There are a couple of trivial edits to other pages.
>
> Spam? Or real person? I seek the wisdom of the collective....

It could be either, but the links don't need to be there. I've removed
them and left a note for the user.

On 2/1/07, Dan Collins <en.wp.st47 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Look at his contribs. He is doing nothing but editing his userpage. I'd MfD
> it under [[WP:NOT]] a free web host, but that's just me.

He has made edits to a few articles now. I don't see a need for an MfD
listing when the rest of the page is fine.

Angla