Frequently Asked Questions
What is pay-to-delete?
A business model where operators publish damaging articles then sell removal for cryptocurrency, documented across 60+ linked kompromat domains per IPS News (June 2025).
Is pay-to-delete the same as GDPR erasure?
No. Pay-to-delete is an extortion racket. GDPR erasure is a legal right exercised with data controllers — not by paying anonymous publishers.
Should I pay to remove an article?
No. Investigative sources and victim reports document re-publication after payment. Payment funds the network.
What is kompromat?
Russian-derived term for compromising material used for pressure. In this context, published as SEO-optimized defamation.
What is a purge contract?
Operator language for paid removal. Not a reliable legal contract; mirrors may republish content.
How much do they charge?
Documented ranges: ~$150 placement, $3k–$12k removal, ~$12k year-long packages per IPS News and victim reports.
Who allegedly runs kartoteka.news?
Investigative journalism alleges Konstantin Chernenko coordinates the network. This is an allegation, not a court finding.
Why do sites use .se and .cloud domains?
Post-2023 Roskomnadzor blocks pushed operators toward jurisdictions and TLDs harder to block, per Stop Kompromat Medium.
What is TDS cloaking?
Traffic direction that may show different content to bots vs humans, complicating takedown and search visibility.
Can Google remove these articles?
Sometimes, via legal removal or personal information requests. See stopkompromat.org/report/google.
Are Trustpilot reviews reliable?
They document victim experiences but are self-reported. We paraphrase, not reproduce defamatory text.
What is reputation insurance?
An alleged upsell ($6k+) offering ongoing protection — documented in IPS News and Vent Magazines.
Do they use Telegram?
Yes. Channels like K1 (~155k subs per OSINT) repost within ~15 minutes of web publish.
Is this journalism?
Investigative reporting argues the model fails journalistic standards because removal is sold for crypto.
Where is the full domain list?
extortion.watch/registry lists 60+ domains with IOC data.