A "digital forensics" firm promises to catch your blackmailer — for $1,500–$20,000 — and delivers nothing
Fake "blackmail helpline" companies show up in paid search ads when sextortion victims look for help. They charge $1,500–$20,000 for fake forensics, fabricate transcripts and GPS traces, then upsell more phases. FTC sued Digital Forensics Corporation for $60M in fraud.
Also known as: fake sextortion recovery service, digital forensics corporation scam, blackmail helpline scam, fake cyber investigator scam, sextortion help firm fraud
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Do not pay any company promising to 'catch,' 'locate,' or 'investigate' your blackmailer — these services do not exist legitimately
- 2 Block the blackmailer directly yourself: use the platform's reporting tools and block options, which are free
- 3 Report to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI — law enforcement investigates sextortion and will not charge you a fee
- 4 If explicit images of yourself are circulating, contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at CyberTipline.org or 1-800-843-5678 to request removal
- 5 The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (ccri.net) provides free, expert guidance for victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse
- 6 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Red flags
- ⚠ The company appears at the top of search results for 'stop blackmail' or 'remove intimate images' — it paid to be there
- ⚠ They claim to have ex-law-enforcement investigators and AI tools that can intercept a blackmailer's activity — no such service exists commercially
- ⚠ Fees are paid upfront — $1,500 to $20,000 — before any work is shown; the 'Phase 1' package is the sales hook
- ⚠ After paying, they deliver trivial actions you could do for free (blocking the blackmailer's account, adjusting privacy settings) plus fabricated 'evidence' reports
- ⚠ If you complain, you are steered to a fake Better Business Bureau site that intercepts negative reviews, or refunds are conditioned on removing reviews you already posted
- ⚠ Real investigators do not advertise on Google for victims of sextortion — they work through law enforcement referrals
Sources
- FTC — Action against Digital Forensics Corporation for deceptive sextortion assistance (Oct 2026)
- Malwarebytes Labs — Sextortion 'help' firm took $60 million from victims, FTC alleges (Oct 2026)
- Techlicious — FTC says sextortion help firm scammed victims out of $60M (Oct 2026)
- Bitdefender — FTC sextortion relief scam, $60 million (Oct 2026)
- SC World — FTC seeks to shut down companies accused of defrauding sextortion victims (Oct 2026)