From Sergei Parkhomenko’s blog on Facebook

I am forced to report here that, according to members of the Dissernet community, cases have become more frequent when various scammers and extortionists contact people - holders of academic degrees or those who will soon be defended - as if on behalf of Dissernet and try to blackmail with future defamatory publications. In this regard, Dissernet urges everyone to keep in mind:

1) Dissernet conducts its examinations and research solely on the initiative of the community members themselves and never works on order, for a fee or in exchange for any services.

2) Dissernet, at its sole discretion, determines which of the examinations carried out will be published on its website, in what order and with what comments. It is impossible to influence an upcoming publication or delete an existing one, by any agreement.

3) Dissernet never enters into direct negotiations or any other relationship with the heroes of its examinations and research, does not put forward any conditions and does not make any demands. (The only exception was negotiations with Oleg Mitvol, due to his own numerous persistent solicitations, in February 2014 about the terms of his voluntary renunciation of academic degrees obtained fraudulently - this experience was considered unsuccessful and was never repeated.)

4) Dissernet is ready to remove the publication of the examination from the site only after the dissertation candidate voluntarily renounces the academic degree obtained dishonestly (after presenting a formal document confirming such refusal).

We hope that all interested parties will continue to exercise caution and prudence in various ambiguous situations. If you suspect any such cases of blackmail and extortion, please report them to Dissernet at the feedback addresses listed on the website www.dissernet.org .