An Ohio company that promised to help victims of “sextortion” has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly defrauding customers of more than $60 million over the last three years.
The company, Digital Forensics Corporation, was the subject of a 2025 investigation by USA TODAY. That series of stories unearthed more than 100 complaints about the company’s aggressive marketing. USA TODAY interviewed three dozen customers and obtained internal sales call transcripts.
Financial sextortion is the fastest-growing cybercrime targeting children and young men in North America. It’s routinely carried out by foreign scammers who threaten to publish nude or sexual images of the victims unless they pay the criminal. That has led to a rise in companies promising to help victims of sextortion. DFC was among the best-known for-profit players in that space.
What the FTC Alleges
Their claims of taking down nude images from the internet were often inflated, fraudulent and scams, the FTC alleged in a 49-page federal complaint unsealed Oct. 13. The FTC cited USA TODAY’s reporting in its federal filing.
FTC investigators obtained a temporary restraining order, barring the company from operating. “Defendants have repeatedly demonstrated they will not cease their unlawful activities despite many complaints and multiple inquiries from consumer protection agencies,” FTC attorneys wrote in the Oct. 5 restraining order filing.
FTC investigators went undercover and posed as sextortion victims to reveal the company’s aggressive sales tactics. The company has offices in Costa Rica, Mexico, Belarus, The Philippines, India and Canada.
“Digital Forensics preys on consumers already in crisis, exploiting victims of sextortion by using fear to pressure them into paying thousands of dollars for services that are never provided,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a prepared statement.
The complaint mirrors the findings in USA TODAY’s investigation: Consumers were charged between $1,499 and $20,000 in an escalating scale of “services it often didn’t deliver.” The company then suppressed negative reviews online and generated thousands of fake ones, according to the complaint.
The FTC alleges that the company’s owner, Dmitry Belkin, DFC and its affiliates violated the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Reviews and Testimonials Rule and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Free Help for Victims
Many similar services are free. Underage victims can use the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s free service, Take It Down, to get private content removed from social media. If victims are over 18, they can go to StopNCII.org, which is also free.
In addition to temporarily freezing the company’s assets, the FTC is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Representatives from DFC did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment. In previous comments, DFC defended its sales tactics and pointed to positive reviews from customers. Attorneys for the company wrote in a court filing they will oppose the restraining order and the government’s effort to appoint a receiver for the company’s assets.
Reporting by Nick Penzenstadler and Rachel Hale, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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