18o3's blog

Leetcode Administration said I'm cheating
By 18o3, history, 14 months ago, In English

Update:The issue has now been rectified and I have got back my coins and rank. Thanks for the support everyone.
Since Leetcode has banned me for a month from posting on their website, I'll try to explain my situation here.

Recently I participated in Leetcode Biweekly 98 and got rank 1(personal milestone).However today morning without any prior communication all my leetcoins were deducted and my name was removed from the leaderboard as I have violated contest rules. (I have not.)

As given on the contest page,
" Below actions are deemed contest violations:
One user submitting with multiple accounts during a contest. LCUS (leetcode.com) account and LCCN (leetcode-cn.com) account are considered to be separate accounts, even if both accounts belong to the same user.
Multiple accounts submitting similar code for the same problem.
Creating unwanted disturbances which interrupt other users' participation in a contest.
Disclosing contest solutions in public discuss posts before the end of a contest.
"
However,
1)I have not submitted from any other id except my own id ,18o3.
2)I submitted the code for each problem only once.
3)I did not disturb anyone or interrupt anyone else's participation.
4)I did not disclose any solution.

I admit I used a template for segment tree in the fourth problem but that code was already available here. There is no leetcode rule about pre written code. However since people use people pre written code and they have not been penalized .Like the current rank 2 (qingczha) is having alot of boilerplate which was most probably written before contest and he was not removed so I don't see how his and mine cases differ.
I don't see how I have violated contest rules and would like to be included back into the ranklist.

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  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (32)
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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

Sorry that happened to you. I've seen many more false bans on Leetcode than on Codeforces. I'm pretty sure the bans need manual approval though, so I always comment in the source of my template if I found it online for programming competitions now.

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +33 Vote: I do not like it

Tragic. My guess is that a lot of people reported you for contest violation (and even though LC didn't have any proof, they went ahead with the masses), maybe because of their bias against an Indian winning LC contest. I hope they revert back what they did soon. I was very happy to see you win.

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 4   Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

Leetcode staff mentioned there were 523 plagiarised submissions for BC98 Q4, but someone also did ran his own plagiarism checker and only found 157 (Source). So either the person’s plag checker is a lot less accurate or there are too many false positive. The discrepancy is too large

You should make a blog post on Leetcode too like what JeffreyLC did

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    14 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +18 Vote: I do not like it

    They banned me and now I can't post there🤡

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      14 months ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

      Create a new account and raise awareness there. Your post here won't have any visibility.

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

Its sad to hear that.

Its totally legal to use 3rd party code. Leetcode officials themselves confirmed that.

See this blog: https://leetcode.com/discuss/feedback/2045796/please-clarify-about-the-rules-of-third-party-code

Many times leetcode copies problem from GFG. Many users have been submitting the gfg codes. They don't get penalised.

I would suggest create an alt account and post this in the feedback section. They take it seriously

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

But it seems they kept your rating change :)

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

You should find a way to make this post there. It's of no use here. You can create an alt or something.

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

I think there is a mistake from leetcode's side. Try to reach them at [email protected]

Most of the people including me used previously written segment trees. I took the segment from my previous submission of this task

and i also posted it in discussion section Sol

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -15 Vote: I do not like it

LeetCode de-orz

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +7 Vote: I do not like it

That's not cheating but I think that's the only reason you are banned because I saw in Discussion section that many people were demanding to take action against guys who even have same template.

That's not fair, but templates are also considered cheating these days. More than 100 guys are banned due to this issue.

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    14 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

    " LC allows for third party codes to be used". source

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      14 months ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

      Yeah you are right but for the showcase purpose that actions are taken, they banned many people like you.

      That's not fair but what can we do bro.

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/3202441/lc-replied-so-many-people-copy-and-paste-template-code-in-biweekly-q4

You are not a cheater but a victim.

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

The persons who are in the top 100 currently, have used templates, what do you expect?

I have seen many regular top 10 coders in leetcode using templates anyways and they never get banned. Then how can this be cheating?

It's totally unacceptable 18o3.

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

suffering from success

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14 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +2 Vote: I do not like it

You will get unbanned soon.

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Full Support to 18o3

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +34 Vote: I do not like it

1) Get rank 1 again ;)

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14 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by 18o3 (previous revision, new revision, compare).

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6 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

I was banned from the contest and discussions for one month in the previous weekend contest. I wasn't aware of this, and when I tried to participate this Sunday, I received a message saying I was banned, and my LeetCode coins were also taken away. What should I do now?

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6 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

How did you resolve it I'm also facing same issue..please tell?

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3 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -43 Vote: I do not like it

i found more racism in codeforces. here some writer write question print the max(a,b) in a contest. when you write std::max(a,b) in your code, your solution will be skipped, cause stupid system found stupid similarity with a guy that i never meet/seen before.

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    3 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +67 Vote: I do not like it

    You cheated in no less than 4 rounds. And those were clear coincidences. I think you're a hair's breadth away from a ban.

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5 weeks ago, # |
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@18o3 hey can you tell me what to do in this situation because for yours same case happen for me today me also not violated any things from my side and me lost 5 thousand coins please me what to do now ?

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    5 weeks ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

    Not 18o3 but I can try to help. If you weren't actually cheating, then you and another contestant probably used the same template. Leetcode allows you to use outside code/templates as long as they were written before the contest. Sometimes users using the same outside code gets mistaken as cheating though.

    You should identify any templates you used in the contest and find their source code online. Then you should fill out a request here: https://support.leetcode.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Set the ticket type to "contest" and very reasonably explain why you weren't actually cheating (again, most likely you used a template that another user also used). Don't forget to link the template in your explanation as proof that you didn't cheat.

    If your code was similar to another user's code and you can't prove that you used an outside template, then unfortunately you might be out of luck even if you didn't cheat. If this is the case, it still wouldn't hurt to submit a request but you won't really have much to go off of other than "trust me bro."

    Best of luck!

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    5 weeks ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    Try not to cheat next time

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      5 weeks ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

      You planning to make another weirdass blog soon or what?

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        5 weeks ago, # ^ |
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        I remember his vivid appearance as he descended down the stairs; weary, drowsy and crestfallen. His tie was stifling, it enervated his voice. His glasses were foggy, it narrowed his vision. And he must see far. He must address the restless throng. He must appear intrepid, for he is their last hope, their last source of truth.

        An anxious mortal asked,

        "How was it? Did it go well? What did they a-"

        He lifted up his hand, signaling silence from the crowd. He saw their faces, some hopeless, some fatigued, and a few intrigued awaiting his answers. He tried to move his lips to speak, but he couldn't. Without uttering a word, he spoke to all of them. And everyone listened.

        Dejected, he made his way back to his room. He felt a breeze of cool air brushing past his hair. He barely had any left at this point. He took another look at their faces. This time, as he looked upon the throng, he felt an invigorating aura. An aura vibrating not from the listeners, but from within.

        The sun dusks, the crowd witnesses the reincarnation of bane. TCS Bhediya rises again.

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