Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Less than one year

This page lists hoaxes on Wikipedia which were extant for at least one month but less than one year . They were removed from the main page Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia to keep its length manageable.

This page covers only hoaxes which were not covered by reliable, independent sources. For the opposite, see the main list.

For many of the below hoaxes, you can see an archived version of the deleted article by clicking on its title (see also list of archived hoaxes). Any administrator can create an archived version of a hoax upon request by following the instructions on the main page at Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia.

Hoax Length Start Date End Date Links
Aliquota (CSD)
Fictitious reptile, based on the lede of an old revision of Lion
11½ months October 19, 2006 October 11, 2007
Oliver Bayley (CSD)
Fictitious Ugandan entertainer
11½ months January 2, 2005 December 15, 2005
The birthplace and childhood home of swimmer Michael Phelps was anonymously changed from a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, to a Utah location. 11½ months October 13, 2009 September 22, 2010 Added: 1 2
Removed and corrected: 1 2
Taurens
Fictitious genus of jumping spiders
11 months September 8, 2012 August 24, 2013 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Taurens
Egyptian Third Republic
Egyptian Fourth Republic
Egyptian Fifth Republic
11 months July 11, 2013 June 15, 2014 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Third Republic, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Fourth Republic, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Fifth Republic
Amberlihisar
Fictitious Ottoman fortress in Turkey.
11 months January 2, 2023 December 4, 2023 Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax". The article was found to have been fully written by ChatGPT, with a slate of fictitious sources. It's not clear if the original author was aware that the subject did not exist, but the article passed AfC. WikiProject AI Cleanup was formed shortly after the article was deleted.
Avlor Landić de Hazelrof
Imaginary Croatian who sailed to China as a boy after his parents were murdered, met numerous revolutionary leaders and became a noted Marxist economist, known for his socioeconomic predictive system that was based on Chinese astrology.
11 months August 11, 2011 July 4, 2012 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Avlor Landić de Hazelrof
Also made it into the French Wikipedia, where it was likewise deleted.
Tiberius Lowang
Fictitious Abo-Teni history
And several others
11 months June 21, 2005 May 16, 2006 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tiberius Lowang, Hoax content added to Abo-Teni
In the Night Garden
Cameron O'Donovan added as actor for 'Makka Pakka'
11 months June 12, 2007 May 7, 2008 Talk:In the Night Garden/Archive 1#Lol.2C i fooled everyone
Under Surfing 10½ months June 9, 2008 April 25, 2009 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Under Surfing
World Tag Fighting Society 10½ months June 9, 2008 April 24, 2009 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/World Tag Fighting Society
Fermat differentiation (PROD) 10½ months February 13, 2009 January 2, 2010
La'kalai language and Aru'kiruna Pacific islanders 10½ months March 4, 2009 January 9, 2010
Porchesia (CSD)
An island that never existed
10½ months November 22, 2005 September 30, 2006 Resurrected and refined on Uncyclopedia as the basis for a featured article.
Ox of Boll (AfD) 10 months October 28, 2005 August 29, 2006 Pun on bollox
Principality of Estland (AfD) 10 months January 2, 2007 November 4, 2007 Mirror
Stewart Lee
"In 1992, Lee was briefly part of the team writing the first Robin Askwith "Confessions of..." movie for 15 years. However due to financial problems the movie was scrapped and his script has never seen light of day". A typo was fixed but this unsourced "fact" was not removed until it was highlighted by the comedy website Chortle
10 months April 25, 2011 February 23, 2012 [1]
Plano Mall (AfD) 9½ months August 20, 2009 June 2, 2010
Omar Q. Beckins (AfD) 9½ months April 15, 2005 February 1, 2006
Lukatwi (G3)
fictitious music genre
9½ months October 4, 2010 July 13, 2011
Rahim Abdul bin Kajaran (AfD)
Said to have become President of Brunei after deposing the Sultan
9½ months February 14, 2009 November 17, 2009 Linked article United Democratic Movement (Brunei) about his political party.
Climbing jack (AfD)
Probably an April Fools' joke
9½ months April 1, 2005 January 5, 2006
Cayley-Newbirth operation matrix
Non-existent mathematical concept
8½ months April 4, 2004 December 22, 2004 VfD. Pun on birth, operation, matrix
Fungu'lu (CSD)
Fictitious span (length) entry
8½ months April 7, 2005 December 15, 2005 Mirror, discussion
Stephen Thanabalan
Brief biography of a Singaporean, apparently with the same name as a real person, but attributed to doing various things that didn't happen via appearances in other articles (listed on the AfD talk page).
8½ months April 3, 2006 December 24, 2006 AfD.
Napkin
Falsely claimed to be invented by a "Madam Rebecca Waltemath"; the perpetrator later admitted that Rebecca Waltemath was the name of his room-mate.[1]
8 months March 15, 2010[2] November 22, 2010[3] As of 2014, a search for "Madam Rebecca Waltemath" still reveals restaurant supply companies[4] having copied the hoax.
Dav Sorado
Fictitious Major League Baseball pitcher with Miami Marlins; some details are name-change plagiarism of Scott McGough.
1 month May 12, 2013 June 14, 2013
Łiesand Dunin (AFD)
Ficitious Polish author and naturalist
7½ months 02009-09-15September 2009 May 7, 2010 "Lies and done in".
Dugenbed (AfD) 7½ months July 30, 2009 March 20, 2010
Vadym Meshkurinho (AfD) 7½ months July 28, 2008 March 13, 2009
Quazer Beast (AfD) 7½ months October 3, 2005 May 17, 2006 WP:BEAST
A1 Steak Sauce
Hoax ingredient list, including mango chutney and orange marmalade
7 months June 29, 2010 February 2, 2011 Removed in this edit
CN English
Nonexistant TV channel
7 months July 4, 2012 February 2, 2013 Program listing included "YouTube Poop" and copy-pasted material from an old draft of Spacetoon
Archived version of hoax
Comprehensive Corporate Power (VfD)
previously survived a VfD, embarrassingly
7 months April 22, 2004 November 25, 2004 Userfication
Tuba (mythology) (AfD)
Fictitious mythical Mongolian animal
7 months 02006-05-15May 2006 02005-12-15December 2006
Harrald Impchkin (AfD)
Fictitious mayor of Baltimore, also incorporated into List of mayors of Baltimore, Maryland[2] and Template:BaltimoreMayors[3]
7 months July 2, 2009 January 29, 2010
Lachlan Crompton syndrome (G3)
Fake medical condition
7 months August 9, 2009 March 13, 2010
Pretraumatic stress disorder (G1)
Fake medical condition
7 months October 17, 2007 May 10, 2008
Express Yourself (Madonna song)
Reference to fake article:
 • Rowsdoom, Charlotte (1989-07-23). "Est-ce que Madonna version Express Yourself aux fans français?". Le Parisien. 143. Éditions Philippe Amaury. ISSN 1161-5435.
There is no such person as Charlotte Rowsdoom. The supposed article's title isn't even perfect French. Author was blocked for fabricating sources.
7 months August 3, 2011 February 28, 2012 The hoax version. Also used in:
 • fr:Express Yourself
Discussion of citation problems.
Leibniz differential and Leibniz function 6½ months February 5, 2009 August 17, 2009
Death bird (AfD)
Fictitious mythical Aztec creature
6½ months October 15, 2007 April 23, 2008
Helleneologism (G7) 6 months October 2, 2006 April 1, 2007 Userfication
McCoy Gibbs as early member of Hot Chelle Rae 5½ months July 22, 2012 January 10, 2013
Rainy Lake in Lolo National Forest is so named because rain has never fallen on it. The lake will dry up by 2013. 5½ months January 5, 2012 June 26, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lolo_National_Forest&oldid=489531608
Demomotus (VfD) 5½ months May 4, 2004 October 12, 2004
Tuatafa Hori (G4)
Fictitious princess of Sigave
5½ months April 20, 2006 October 10, 2006
Indochine as household appliance 5 months October 29, 2003 March 30, 2004 Mirror
Cytaria (G3) 5 months 02009-01-15January 2009 02009-06-15June 2009
Top of the Klass with Mylene Klass (AfD)
Included an account of a fictitious scandal involving a real person; references were added to several other articles [4][5][6][7]
4½ months April 28, 2010 September 18, 2010 Mirror, Article from UKGameshows.com, Discussion at Bother's Bar
Sailor Toadstool (AfD)
Supposedly the name of a Sailor Moon and Super Mario Bros. crossover
4½ months January 1, 2005 May 22, 2005 [8]
Fictitious Yves Gérard biography 4½ months December 31, 2007 May 19, 2008 Mirror, discussion
Sean Koo (CSD) 4½ months November 8, 2005 March 27, 2006
Establishment of Juba, Sudan, by Greeks 4½ months September 30, 2005 February 16, 2006 Summary
John Seigenthaler Sr. hoax 4 months May 26, 2005 September 22, 2005
Blanchard, North Dakota
A claim that the community held a Tommy Wiseau festival, and that during the festival, the residents are only allowed to speak in phrases used in the movie The Room.
4 months April 2, 2021 August 2, 2021 Addition and removal
Edits by Roylee (RFC) 4 months 02004-12-15December 2004 02005-04-15April 2005
Kemakmuran 4 months September 22, 2012 January 21, 2013 Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Kemakmuran
First Order of Ailuros
A religious cult, cut-and-pasted from Branch Davidian: "locals of the Philadelphia area describe attacks from Panda-like apparitions"
4 months February 4, 2016 June 7, 2016
Raconteur, Pennsylvania (CSD)
Fictional town
4 months December 24, 2006 April 28, 2007 Pun on raconteur
2 months May 14, 2007 July 13, 2007
Uqbar
A Middle Eastern place in a 1940 short story, fictional even within the story. One of the earliest hoaxes to have been debunked.
3½ months November 6, 2003 February 23, 2004 Old version showing hoax. See Uqbar for more information.
Hannah Quick
Article with fake references by MadameYLion (talk · contribs) about a fictitious female pirate.
3½ months July 14, 2010 October 24, 2010
Samantha Wreschner
Article with fake references by MadameYLion (talk · contribs) about a fictitious female serial killer.
3½ months July 15, 2010 October 24, 2010
Edits by Wonderfool (AN) 3 months 02005-08-1500August 2005 02005-11-1500November 2005
Fictitious limelight etymology 3 months January 26, 2005 April 22, 2005 Mirror
"Oh Father"
Reference to fake article:
 • Zollo, Paul (May 1989). "Madonna on her turbulence". SongTalk. 10 (5). Mortimer Zuckerman: 21.
Paul Zollo wrote no such article title, and the volume and issue are not in keeping with the magazine's normal series. Author was blocked for fabricating sources.
3 months November 24, 2011 February 21, 2012 The hoax version. Also used in:
 • Keep It Together (Madonna song)
 • fr:Keep It Together
 • fr:Oh Father
Discussion of citation problems.
Saint Wallace (G3)
Name-change plagiarism of Saint Christopher
3 months January 28, 2009 April 24, 2009
The Ley of Lothwell and Lupocaan (AfD)
Fictitious Old English poem. Two versions of the text were also included.
3 months December 7, 2005 March 3, 2006
Gurjit Gill (PROD)
Came from Articles for Creation
2½ months 02008-02-15February 2008 April 28, 2008
Weasel Thomas (PROD)
Returned after a pathetic AfD
2½ months 02007-12-15December 2007 February 27, 2008
Navarro's Original Taco Filling (AfD)
Fictitious food and company
2½ months August 2, 2006 October 23, 2006
Statement that Italian soccer player Damiano Tommasi was an expert noted for "in-depth knowledge and appreciation" of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard 2½ months December 7, 2008 February 26, 2009 Added, removed; hoax came to light in an interview with AS Roma club blog laroma24.it, when a reporter asked a very surprised Tommasi about his interest in Kierkegaard.
Township of Asstree, Alabama (AfD)
Fictional township
2½ months July 25, 2006 October 12, 2006 Asstree, Alabama (G1)
Fictitious Llanddewi Rhydderch history
Original article lasting 3 months
2½ months July 2, 2007 September 15, 2007 Mirror
Another David Rockefeller, Jr.
Readded 3rd time by "Davidjrrockefeller"
2½ months December 28, 2008 March 17, 2009 Mirror at Sr.
Mirror at Jr.
Wayne Kerr
Real rugby player's nickname was listed as "Tosser", supposedly in reference to his throwing ability, but likely in a reference to masturbation (see wanker)
2½ months September 20, 2011 December 12, 2011 removed
Belton Knapp"The origin of Belton Knapp is lost in mystery" – small wonder, as this hamlet near Cheltenham was a fiction 2½ months May 7, 2009 July 19, 2009 Mirror
Teothuauci (AfD) 2½ months June 9, 2005 August 18, 2005 Pun on TEOTWAWKI
Gray McKenzie (AfD)
Fraudulent "Global Asset Management" company.
2 months May 29, 2010 August 7, 2010 This hoax article was created to provide credibility for a serious scam in which people lost money. Also

deleted in :de. See warnings about the scam (in German): 1 (which refers to the WP article) 2 An allied scam article, Hill Philipp & Associates Corp., was deleted within hours.

Empire of Luxembourg (AfD)
Fictitious Medieval "empire" that existed for less than one year.
2 months April 25, 2014 June 30, 2014
Jonathan L. Langer (AfD) 2 months October 19, 2010 December 26, 2010
Office for Entrepreneurs' Relief (AfD)
Fictitious British government department
2 months February 23, 2009 May 2, 2009
Claim in Legality of cannabis by country (now only Legality of cannabis) that cannabis was fully legal in Bangladesh. It may have been in good faith, but the source provided did not explicitly claim legality. 2 months November 29, 2015 January 31, 2016 added
description and source added
removed
Gadget Boy (2013 TV series)
Purported 2013 revival of a 1990s Inspector Gadget spinoff
2 months October 17, 2012 December 15, 2012 References to the series on other Inspector Gadget-related articles also went untouched for 2 months. And another attempted revival occurs here.
Phantom Agents (animated series) (AFD)
Another purported revival, this time of an obscure 1960s Japanese live-action show
2 months October 18, 2012 December 17, 2012 And tries to re-appear here
Battle of Exakameron (AfD) 2 months February 14, 2010 April 11, 2010 Supposed battle in East Africa
Tom Prescillo
Fictitious Scottish actor, with references and picture of other people.
1½ months December 21, 2013 February 19, 2014
"Nosh-u-want" as one of multiple synonyms for "potluck", inserted by anon-IP 18 Feb 2012 [9], flagged as suspect on talk page 28 March 2012. A Way with Words unmasked this as a hoax on public radio 12 Jan 2013, claiming to have removed the vandalism. 1½ months February 18, 2012 March 28, 2012 Dish-to-Pass Supper, A Way with Words, Jan 2013
Nicktoons: Pacmarangs (PROD)
Jetix Le Shorts (PROD)
Nicktoons: Dark Snap (PROD)
The Puppet and the Hare (PROD)
1½ months March 7, 2008 April 28, 2008
Mama Mo Yeah
Nonexistent short story, supposedly written by Guy de Maupassant.
1½ months December 7, 2012 February 2, 2013
Claim that Margaret Thatcher is fictitious
Even while ostensibly labeled as a hoax
1½ months May 8, 2008 June 26, 2008 Mirror
Wakstbaak Saakkinkrak (G3) 1½ months August 29, 2008 October 15, 2008 Pun on waxed back, sack, and crack
Senate Document No. 43 (AfD) 1½ months May 15, 2006 June 30, 2006
Hannibal Fogg
Creation of an article with faked references, as well as methodical insertion of Hannibal Fogg name in other Wikipedia articles by BarnardKnox (talk · contribs) (there is a fake Hannibal Fogg Society online, registered to Jason Webster and Tahir Shah according to Whois)
1½ months August 27, 2009 October 12, 2009 Discussion on Durova's talk page
Article on mirrorsites, archive
Hannibal Fogg Watch (case documentation and background)
Claim that William A. Breyer, founder of Breyers ice cream, was the grandfather of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. 1 month February 2, 2010 March 7, 2010 Mirror
Edward Owens (hoax)
A hoax article written by university students as a class project, revealed as a hoax a month later and retained on Wikipedia after two deletion debates with no consensus at to whether is was a notable hoax. A third originally resulted in deletion before being overturned
1 month November 18, 2008 December 18, 2008 Revived as an article on the hoax itself at Edward Owens hoax
Madonna: Like an Icon
Reference to fake article:
 • Jansen, Christina (2008-01-05). "Meeting the Woman behind She-Bop". People. 581 (50). Time Inc.: 21–22. ISSN 0093-7673.
Christina Jansen is a photographer, not a writer. There is no such article title, and the volume and issue are not in keeping with the magazine's normal series. Author was blocked for fabricating sources.
1 month January 12, 2012 February 15, 2012 The hoax version.
Discussion of citation problems.
Fraser (surname)
The ancient Scottish clan name of Fraser was listed for five weeks as being of Ashkenazi Jewish origin and most commonly found in Israel and Eastern Europe.
1 month January 22, 2019 February 25, 2019
Claim that "chudweed" was a common name for Bidens hyperborea.
This hoax caused a small edit war leading to the page becoming protected for one week.
9 hours, 9 minutes June 13, 2024 June 13, 2024
Claim that a member of Bilk (band) left after being implicated in a Jamaican corned beef theft 1 month April 1, 2024 April 30, 2024 added, removed after edit warring
Featured on Depths of Wikipedia before being retracted