A federal lawsuit filed against a company that promised to rescue sextortion victims alleges it instead collected at least $60 million while faking investigations, blocking real complaints and pressuring frightened customers to keep paying. Among those who say they were burned is Cheryl Semmelroth of Medina, who paid roughly $2,500 to Digital Forensics Corporation after she and her husband were hacked and her identity was stolen, only to say the company never delivered what she paid for and refused to give her money back.
Federal Complaint Targets Ohio-Based Operation
The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Digital Forensics Corporation deceived consumers who turned to the company in moments of crisis, according to News 5 Cleveland. The FTC alleges the company received payments of at least $60 million for sextortion-related services, and CyberScoop reports the FTC's lawsuit, filed in Ohio against founder Dmitry Belkin and 12 of his businesses, accuses the operation of unfair and deceptive trade practices and deceptive telemarketing dating back to at least 2020. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted a temporary restraining order against the company and Belkin, which halts the company's operations as the case proceeds, per the station's report.
Sextortion itself is a brutal scheme: cybercriminals threaten to publish a victim's nude or sexual images unless a ransom is paid, and Digital Forensics Corporation marketed itself directly to people caught in that nightmare. The FTC alleges the company promised to identify perpetrators, prevent the release of private images and coordinate with law enforcement — claims the agency says the company routinely failed to deliver, per the same account.
Fees Up to $20,000, Then Pressure for More
According to the FTC lawsuit, Digital Forensics Corporation charged consumers fees ranging from $1,499 to $20,000 for what CyberScoop describes as a “Phase 1” package covering communication with sextortionists, tracing their locations, sending cease-and-desist letters and reporting evidence to law enforcement. The complaint alleges the company then pressured customers who bought those services to pay thousands of dollars more for additional “Phase 2” monitoring. Earlier reporting by USA TODAY found the company also offered monthly installment financing that could stretch six years and carry interest rates as high as 18%, even though its contracts stated there was no guarantee of outcome or results.
USA TODAY's investigation, which interviewed nearly three dozen customers and reviewed 11 company contracts, documented a pattern of customers alleging inflated promises and high prices after examining business filings, lawsuits, internal documents and more than 100 complaints filed with state regulators and the Better Business Bureau.
FTC Alleges Fabricated Evidence and Fake Reviews
The FTC alleges Digital Forensics Corporation created fake investigative reports and reviews, and CyberScoop reports the complaint describes the company fabricating chat transcripts and using pre-saved geolocation coordinates to fool customers into believing real investigative work was underway. The FTC also says the company directed victims to keep communicating with the cybercriminals extorting them, despite guidance from the FBI and the Better Business Bureau that victims should stop communicating with sextortionists, block their accounts and report the profiles instead.
CyberScoop additionally reports the lawsuit alleges the company purchased fake positive reviews and hired Uber drivers to post staged testimonials with fabricated photographs, part of what the outlet describes as a broader effort to manufacture the appearance of success.
Complaints Rerouted to a Fake BBB Site
When customers tried to complain, the FTC alleges Digital Forensics Corporation directed them to fake Better Business Bureau websites it controlled, preventing legitimate complaints from reaching the real BBB. Ericka Dilworth of the BBB Serving Greater Cleveland said consumers believed they were dealing with the actual Better Business Bureau, not realizing the websites were controlled by the business itself, according to News 5 Cleveland. Dilworth and the BBB Serving Greater Cleveland helped the FTC build its case by monitoring complaints and customer reviews tied to the company, the station reports.
The real BBB says it works to process complaints within two business days and requires businesses to respond within 14 days, acting as a neutral party to help resolve disputes. The organization recommends that customers dispute charges for unfulfilled services with their financial institution, leave reviews on a company's actual BBB profile, and report complaints to the FTC or their state attorney general's office. News 5 Investigators said they contacted Digital Forensics on Thursday but had not received a response by deadline.
What Victims Should Do Instead
Federal investigators say the financial scale of sextortion itself is staggering: the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of financial sextortion targeting minors between October 2021 and March 2023, involving at least 12,600 victims, according to the FBI. The agency says these schemes against young people often start when a criminal poses as a peer or offers something of value before threatening to publish images or commit violence, as described in a separate FBI warning issued for Safer Internet Day.
The BBB and FBI recommend that victims never pay a ransom, send money, buy gift cards or transfer bitcoin to extortionists. Instead, victims should save screenshots of messages and scammer profiles as evidence, avoid opening attachments or clicking links from the scammer, and report the matter to law enforcement. The FBI accepts reports by phone at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov, while the BBB recommends reporting scams at bbb.org/scamtracker. Minors can seek free help removing explicit images through takeitdown.ncmec.org, and adults can use stopncii.org for the same purpose.
