A vast academic cheating network, fueled by Google Ads and boasting nearly $25 million in revenue, has unveiled startling connections to a Kremlin-aligned oligarch whose Russian university is actively involved in constructing drones for Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. This improbable link between essay mills and military hardware begins with a critical question: how does a human-intensive academic dishonesty service remain competitive in an era where students can readily turn to AI for assignments? The answer lies in a strategic rebranding as an "AI company," marking the latest evolution in a history of transformations that tie this operation directly to Russia’s most expansive private educational institution.

When searching Google for terms associated with academic assistance, such as "help with exam online" or "term paper online," users are frequently directed to websites bearing names like "nerd" or "geek," including the prominent thenerdify[.]com and geekly-hub[.]com. These platforms offer the convenience of hiring tutors via simple text messages to assist with any academic task. Despite prominently displaying an "honor code" that ostensibly prohibits academic cheating and asserts they only provide support and advice, investigations by This Isn’t Fine, a Substack dedicated to contract cheating and essay mills, reveal that these "nerdy" branded sites readily disregard their stated principles. Author Joseph Thibault documented his experience, stating, "We tested the quick SMS for a price quote. The honor code references and platitudes apparently stop at the website. Within three minutes, we confirmed that a full three-page, plagiarism- and AI-free MLA formatted Argumentative essay could be ours for the low price of $141."

Google’s advertising policies strictly prohibit content that "enable[s] dishonest behavior." Nevertheless, a sprawling international network of essay and homework cheating services operating under the "Nerdy" umbrella has surreptitiously secured top positions in Google searches, amassing nearly $25 million through a complex web of companies registered in Cyprus, Malta, and Hong Kong. These entities deceptively advertise "tutoring" services that deliver finished academic work for students to submit. When one Google Ads account associated with the Nerdy group was terminated, the organization would promptly establish a new entity, often fronted by a young Ukrainian woman, launch a fresh advertising account, and create a new website and domain name—typically incorporating "nerdy" into the brand—to resume their targeted advertising campaigns.

Since January 2025, several UK-based companies linked to this group have had their Google Ads accounts suspended. These include Proglobal Solutions LTD (which advertised nerdifyit[.]com), AW Tech Limited (which advertised thenerdify[.]com), and Geekly Solutions Ltd (which advertised geekly-hub[.]com). Currently, active Google Ads accounts for the Nerdify brands are operated by OK Marketing LTD (advertising geekly-hub[.]net©), registered under the name Olha Karpenko, a young Ukrainian woman, and Two Sigma Solutions LTD (advertising litero[.]ai), registered under the name Olekszij (Alexey) Pokatilo.

Alexey Pokatilo has been a fixture in the essay-writing industry since at least 2009, co-founding a paper mill operation named Livingston Research with Alexander Korsukov. An extensive account from a former Livingston Research employee indicates that the company primarily outsourced its writing tasks to low-wage workers in Kenya, the Philippines, Pakistan, Russia, and Ukraine. Pokatilo relocated from Ukraine to the United Kingdom in September 2015 and co-established Awesome Technologies, a service designed to facilitate task outsourcing through text message requests to assistants.

The other co-founder of Awesome Technologies was Filip Perkon, a 36-year-old Swedish national residing in London, who presents himself as a serial entrepreneur and investor. Years prior to their collaboration on Awesome Technologies, Perkon and Pokatilo were classmates at the London School of Economics, where they co-founded a student organization called Russian Business Week. Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev has noted that Perkon’s birth certificate was issued by the Soviet Embassy in Sweden.

Around the same period Perkon and Pokatilo launched Awesome Technologies, Perkon was actively developing a social media propaganda tool known as the Russian Diplomatic Online Club. Perkon claimed this initiative would "turbo-charge" Russian messaging online. The club’s newsletter encouraged subscribers to install a third-party application called Tweetsquad on their Twitter accounts, which would automate the retweeting of Kremlin messaging. The Russian Embassy in London lauded Perkon for his efforts. During the contentious Brexit referendum, the Russian embassy in London utilized this automated tweeting tool to auto-retweet posts from the Russian ambassador via supporters’ accounts. Neither Mr. Perkon nor Mr. Pokatilo responded to requests for comment regarding these activities.

A review of corporations associated with Mr. Perkon, as cataloged by the business research service North Data, reveals that he has held or currently holds director positions in several UK subsidiaries of Synergy University. Synergy University is Russia’s largest private educational provider, with over 35,000 students. The university notably sells merchandise featuring patriotic slogans such as "Crimea is Ours" and "The Russian Empire – Reloaded." The president of Synergy University is Vadim Lobov, a figure with close ties to the Kremlin. His Moscow headquarters reportedly features a wall-sized portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the style of Andy Warhol. For several years, Lobov and Perkon co-produced a cross-cultural event in the UK called Russian Film Week.

Mr. Lobov was reportedly among 11 individuals hand-picked by convicted Russian spy Marina Butina to attend the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., shortly after President Trump’s inauguration. While Synergy University promotes itself as Russia’s premier private educational institution, hundreds of international students paint a starkly different picture. Online reviews from students in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and other nations detail experiences of unfulfilled promises, with thousands of advance fees paid for supposed study visas to Russia, only for applications to be denied with no refunds issued. One student shared a heartbreaking account: "My experience with Synergy University has been nothing short of heartbreaking… When I first discovered the school, their representative was extremely responsive and eager to assist. He communicated frequently and made me believe I was in safe hands. However, after paying my hard-earned tuition fees, my visa was denied. It’s been over 9 months since that denial, and despite their promises, I have received no refund whatsoever. My messages are now ignored, and the same representative who once replied instantly no longer responds at all. Synergy University, how can an institution in Europe feel comfortable exploiting the hopes of Africans who trust you with their life savings? This is not just unethical – it’s predatory." This pattern of attractive online marketing, promises of easy visa approval, upfront payment demands, and subsequent silence after visa denials is echoed in reviews from multilingual students from Pakistan, Nepal, India, and various African nations. Discussions on Reddit forums like r/Moscow and r/AskARussian are replete with warnings, with one user stating, "It’s a scam, a diploma mill. They literally sell exams. There was an investigation on Rossiya-1 television showing students paying to pass tests."

The "About Us" page on the Nerdify website claims the company was co-founded by Pokatilo and an American named Brian Mellor. However, evidence suggests this identity may be fabricated, as no verifiable information exists about a person named Brian Mellor ever working at Nerdify. Instead, it appears that the SMS assistance company co-founded by Messrs. Pokatilo and Perkon, Awesome Technologies, faltered shortly after its inception. Nerdify subsequently adopted the practice of accepting assignment requests via text message and channeling them to freelance writers. A closer examination of an early "About Us" page for Nerdify, archived on The Wayback Machine, indicates that Mr. Perkon was indeed a co-founder. A photograph at the top of the page shows four individuals wearing Nerdify T-shirts around a table on a rooftop deck in San Francisco; the man facing the camera is Perkon.

Currently, Pokatilo is at the helm of Litero.Ai, an AI-based essay writing service that reportedly secured $800,000 in pre-seed funding in July 2025 from an investment program backed by venture capital firms AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, and I2BF Global Ventures. Meanwhile, Filip Perkon is involved in establishing "Duck World" stores, which market themselves as "the world’s largest duck store," in Miami and at least three locations in the United Kingdom. This past week, Mr. Lobov was in India accompanying President Putin’s delegation on a diplomatic tour with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Synergy is presented as an educational institution, a review of its extensive corporate footprint, discernible through DNS records, reveals its involvement in assisting the Russian government in its war against Ukraine. For example, the website bpla.synergy[.]bot explicitly states the company’s involvement in developing combat drones for Russian forces and circumventing international sanctions on high-tech product supply and re-export.

KrebsOnSecurity acknowledges the invaluable assistance of the anonymous researcher NatInfoSec in this investigation.

Update, Dec. 8, 10:06 a.m. ET: Mr. Pokatilo responded to requests for comment, stating he has no affiliation with Synergy or Mr. Lobov, and that his professional relationship with Mr. Perkon concluded with the dissolution of Awesome Technologies. Pokatilo emphasized, "I have had no involvement in any of his projects and business activities mentioned in the article and he has no involvement in Litero.ai." He further asserted that Litero.ai "does not provide contract cheating services and is built specifically to improve transparency and academic integrity in the age of universal use of AI by students." Pokatilo, identifying as Ukrainian, expressed deep personal offense and concern for Litero.ai’s reputation, stating, "Any suggestion that I or my company may be connected in any way to Russia’s war efforts is deeply offensive on a personal level and harmful to the reputation of Litero.ai, a company where many team members are Ukrainian."

Update, Dec. 11, 12:07 p.m. ET: Mr. Perkon also responded to inquiries, explaining that the photograph of him in a Nerdify T-shirt was taken after a startup event in San Francisco, where he volunteered to model for friends. He stated, "I have no business or other relations to Nerdify or any other ventures in that space." Regarding Vadim Lobov, Perkon clarified that he worked for Synergy’s venture capital arm until 2013 and was involved in a UK business school project that did not materialize, leading to the company being made dormant. He confirmed Synergy provided sponsorship for his Russian Film Week event, which ran until 2022 and was the largest independent Russian film festival outside of Russia. Perkon noted he ceased operations of the festival in 2022 at the onset of the Ukraine war. He added, "I have had no business with Vadim Lobov since 2021 (the last film festival) and I don’t keep track of his endeavours." Concerning Alexey Pokatilo, Perkon described him as a university friend, reiterating that their business relationship ended years ago with the unsuccessful concierge service Awesome Technologies.