ComplaintsforDigital Forensics Corp.

• Initial Complaint

  01/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Same story, different day. I could have written any of the 60 plus Complaints seen on the BBB website. I engaged their services on 9/30/2021. Uber promptly picked up my check for $7,200 as payment for Phase I. Unbeknownst to me, the check was sent and deposited to a bank in Ohio where their headquarters is located. Their website misleads as it shows an address near my home in Irvine, CA. They did not disclose to me that I would have to work remotely with a tech person to download all data from my 3 devices on an external hard drive and ship back to Ohio for evaluation. I was fully aware that I had malware on my computer and my email was hacked by my ex because I have the Mailtrack app. I wanted them to locate and delete any malware and find the source of the email hack to submit to the FBI. I was promised a 10 day turn around for my report. I did not receive it until 10/29/21, and that was after pestering them. I have repeatedly tried to email and call them for issues that have continued to arise and they are either very slow to respond or completely ignore me. I have sent them an email revoking authorization to use their malway apps, many weeks ago, and they promised to have a tech contact me on a certain date and time. Didn't happen. They have done nothing for me and want even more money to do Phase II. I refused. While they have not admitted any wrongdoing, clearly they are doing so indirectly. They originally offered me an insignificant refund of $1,200, then as my complaint was escalated, refund increased to $5,000, now up to $6,000. Issue is, we cannot come to an agreement. They don't want to take any responsibility should my data get in the wrong hands through their negligence. or possibly selling my data on the Dark Web. They refuse to return my data. they are terrified of being sued and threatened to sue ME if I post negative reviews on any websites, social media, or word of mouth. This is an untrustworthy and deceitful company. Stay away!

  Business response

  01/20/2022

  Tell us why here...Debbie,
  
  Thank you for brining this complaint to our attention. I was able to take a look at your case, and review correspondence between you and several other members of our team.
  Firstly, our records indicate that you initiated service on 10/1/2021. During your initial call, the expectations were set that we would not be able to prove it was anyone individual, and that the purpose of our investigation is to confirm or deny and remove any malicious software on your devices. We also informed you that this process would be handled remotely, and not in any specific facility. You elected to move forward with our highest tier service. We received your payment on 10/5/2021, and you engaged in service by signing your authorization form on 10/14/2021. The date of service starts when payment is in and the authorization form is signed. You paid for an ASAP tier service, which is roughly 10 business days depending on data. This would give your report a due date of 10/28/2021. Due to your case manager's schedule, she reached out to you on the 29th to ask you for a time to go over our findings. You made an appointment to go over the findings. It appears you and your case manager spent 1 hour and 52 minutes on the phone on 11/01/2021. The report was 150 pages of data from 3 devices that you submitted. This report goes in detail about what settings we changed to make your device safe from a hardware standpoint. It also shows in detail that no signs of malware were located on either of your three devices. At this point, you were contemplating moving forward with the Phase 2 investigation, but you had additional questions.

  
  On 11/05/2021 you spoke to someone in tech support where we explained that there was no proof of being hacked located on the devices, however there were hundreds of viruses. At this point, we determined the best course of action was to run a scan to further understand the issue at no additional cost to you. An appointment was set for the very next day (11/06/2021). Another member of tech support reached out on 11/06/2021 to complete the aforementioned scan. During this 1 hour and 21-minute phone call, we answered additional questions and led to another 22 minutes follow-up call in the same day. You then emailed Shannon detailing some concerns and frustration, which prompted us to have someone from our escalations team reach out. During this call, we started trying to find a resolution. The agreed upon resolution was a substantial refund. Per our company policy, we needed a refund agreement to be signed. We sent you the agreement, and you wanted your attorney to review the document. You had some requested changes, which after a conversation with you and upper leadership, we obliged.  However, you then asked for additional changes and became increasingly irate via email, and would not accept a phone call or work with our legal team regarding the abnormal requests you were requesting we make.  We sent you several revisions of our agreement, including making the entire document mutual, which is not a standard practice we do.  After our final revisions, with all of your requested changes, we didn't hear from you. It appears you declined the document through are E signature software, which does not alert us.  On 1/11/2022, you emailed us about getting a software removed from your computer. Since you refused to provide us with your new phone number, we provided you the name and extension of the person who is working the shift that you said worked best for you. In the email, we explained that he is the only person working, and we will do our best to accommodate. After you tried calling twice within 15 minutes, you sent an email asking us to not contact you again. 

  
  We remain willing to give you a partial refund. Please feel free to give us a call at anytime, so we can continue working on resolving this issue and getting the agreement sorted out. We look forward to speaking with you and resolving this issue.
  
  

  Business response

  02/01/2022

  Thank you for sending over clear screens of the document edits that you made, the originals were sadly too blurry for our legal team to review. However, after our legal team has reviewed your proposed changes, they have advised us that these changes are not appropriate for our company to agree too. The language is beyond the scope of the already heavily edited mutual agreement, and the removals of large sections of the agreement gut the basis of having the agreement in the first place. We stand by our very significant refund offer and will gladly honor it with the last agreement we sent for signature, but we can not agree to these massive changes suggested in the client's version of the refund agreement, as advised by our legal team.

  Customer response

  02/09/2022

  Thank you for your reply regarding the proposed Refund Agreement.  As your company strongly recommends, I have consulted with an attorney regarding the verbiage of the documents, and after submitting 5 proposed changes to you on the recommendation of my attorney, you have ultimately rejected them, only making a few minor changes, but each time along with those very minor agreed changes, your in house attorney also re-writes most of the entire agreement and that complicates and further delays the end result because my attorney has to review the agreement all over again. This process of rewriting everything, going back and forth with changes, without using software which enables each party to modify the document also slow everything down.  I have found all of this to be very frustrating, inefficient, and unnecessary as it truly muddies the waters. I disagree (and so does my attorney) with your claim that we are seeking to remove the "meat" of the document.  As noted on my most recent proposal for changes, Item #9 is simply repetitive, redundant, and unnecessary as the exact same things are stated in #7 and #8.  My attorney is an International Business Attorney, a Super Lawyer, and has over 35 years experience.  I believe your single "in house" attorney is very inexperienced having only graduated from law school one year ago. My attorney is looking out for my best interests.  He wants me to be protected in the even that my data is leaked/breached  through any means whether through gross negligence or intentional misconduct by the company.  I am an unemployed senior and live on a limited income.  I cannot afford to take any risk regarding my data being compromised which would likely lead to Identity Theft. Therefore, raising the amount of my partial refund to any amount is simply not worth the risk of letting your company off the hook should such a horrific situation occur.  On the other hand, a company your size, which takes on much risk in your area of work, has liability insurance and you have nothing to lose.  It is very concerning to me that you don't seem to have confidence in your ability to protect me, otherwise you would have agreed with the terms my attorney proposed, a long time ago. Further, the partial refund you have offered me has dwindled significantly due to all the revisions which required me to consult with an attorney who charges $600 per hour. 

  On another note, you have not addressed the letter I submitted to you in conjunction with the most recent proposed Refund Agreement. It was completely ignored by you. It referenced the removal of Team Viewer and the ESET apps, my refund, and the request to return  my Data.  On October 21, 2021, I sent an email to your Senior Case Manager revoking authorization of the ESET app and Teamviewer app but no one has followed through on contacting me to remove the apps. No one replied or confirmed my request to terminate, nor did anyone reach out to me to set up a date and time to do this with me.  I tried to do this on my own, but I was unsuccessful in my attempts to remove the software apps and weeks later, after my failed attempts, I emailed you and we set up an appointment time to have these apps removed, but the tech person was unavailable at the agreed upon time and there was no attempt to reach out to me to complete the task, so I gave up on the very poor customer service that I have repeatedly, and painfully endured.  I was forced to hire an independent tech company to remove those apps for me. and that too was an unnecessary expense that I incurred. 

  Finally, I have repeatedly, both via email and during phone calls to you, requested that my Data be returned to me. This request has been ignored.  On our call you stated that the data was "wiped" from the hard drive and stored at your facility in Ohio, (which is a direct contradiction).  You sent me a brand new USB Hard Drive used to clone my Data.  I find that hard to believe since my case is still open, not to mention you had no right to do that (if what you say is true).  The data belongs to ME as does the actual hard drive itself which I paid for.  Refusing to return my Data to me, is a huge liability to your company.  I want my Data returned to me immediately. 

  The last item referenced in my letter was a request to send my refund check and USB Hard Drive to me via ***** with a Tracking number.  I resolved the issue with the apps on my own. I am fully aware that no refund will be sent until we are in full agreement to the terms of the refund, but there is no reason to delay returning my data to me.  In fact, doing so, would have shown good faith in your intentions to resolve as much of this complaint as possible as soon as possible.  I am recommending that you review the very first proposed modification to the Agreement and consider signing it as soon as possible to resolve this unreasonable and  ongoing conflict.  Otherwise, I am prepared to escalate this issue with multiple additional third parties.  

• Initial Complaint

  12/31/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I found "Digital Forensics Corporation" through a Google search. I was looking for **** ******** ******** for litigation purposes. Their website looked professional and they had a video online of Dr. Phil appearing to vouch for the company. I found out the video, their number, and their website is fake. I spoke to the manager "******* ***** and she asked me personal questions about my case and the services I wanted. She appeared to be sympathetic to my situation and told me their company handles cases like mine all the time. That was when I decided to hire them for a 20 business day data recovery of deleted text messages. I was quoted $1,599. I felt it was worth it. They red flag was paying a large sum of money upfront with no guarantee. But I felt confident they were going to work on my case immediately. After the 20 business day, I received no response. I contacted ******* with no response. I received an email from another "manager" "***** *******" and he told me the job was not started because they needed a password to access my device. He gaslighted me. My device never needed a password. The company knew this, because I filled out a questionnaire about my phone. I asked to send my device back. No response. The bottom line is, every "employee" that works here, is a sophisticated thief, who pretends to be an expertise, when in reality, they are organized criminals who steal large sums of money and move on to the next person. These individuals don't have a conscience. Protect yourself. Report them to the full extent of the law, and don't be fooled.

  Business response

  01/03/2022

  Thank you for the information provided in your complaint, as a company we have done an internal investigation to address these concerns. Your final payment and final authorization form was signed on 11/12/2021, one day prior, our engineer was assigned to your case and began the processing phase of the device. Upon processing, he discovered a password on the device that was necessary for us to forensically image and process the device, please see photo attached. On the same day 11/11/2021 your case manager texted you regarding the password for the device. We again requested the password from you by your case manager and eventually another manger also requested the password, please see image attached. Your internal questionnaire stated that there was not a password or security on the device, please see attached. We can not work with a device that has a password; thus, we have requested that password since the first day we started working on the device.

  
  We have communication with you showing we need the password and that we have requested the password. If you do not have the password, that is fine, we will gladly send the device back per your request we received on 12/30. I am sorry that we have not responded yet, as we observed the New Year holiday that day. Additionally, we will be contacting you regarding a refund.

• Initial Complaint

  11/24/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company initially told me after a Phase 1 examination that my devices showed signs of almost certain and significant compromise. I suspected digital stalking on multiple devices, as evidenced by strange device locations, devices lighting up in the middle of the night, data and apps being removed remotely, etc, and much more. I was desperate to stop the stalking, so took the plunge. As soon as they sold me on Phase 2 with expedited processing in November 2019, the story changed. The case was transferred to a different department, and reps were unresponsive and uninterested. They took an initial look and said they did not find anything. This was so vastly different from what the sales rep had told me, so I asked if they'd reviewed the extensive backstory/pictures/details I'd painstaking compiled for them so they'd know what to look for. Nope. I asked them to review it. Push...pull...tug...It didn't take me long to realize that if anything was going to be found, I would need to comb through the data files myself, with their rep on the line, to look for suspicious activity. This was ridiculous as it was what I paid THEM to do. I spent hours and hours over days. We found location information that the technician agreed was highly abnormal, but when they finally produced a preliminary report, it had been watered down to almost nothing. It was like pulling hens teeth to get them to state bare facts of the abnormalities we found. Totally frustrated, I finally approved their very abbreviated report and requested that they add a list of supporting data (maybe 3 pages). I have heard nothing since. That was spring of 2021 - I've reached out multiple times with no response at all. BOTTOM LINE? TWO YEARS LATER, I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE EXPEDITED FORENSIC REPORT I PAID FOR IN 2019. My conclusion? This company is a total rip-off, definitely not here to help you solve a forensic case. LOOK ELSEWHERE. All they want is your money.

  Business response

  11/26/2021

  Thank you for the information, *** *****, and for being a valued client of ours from 2019. Your expedited Phase 2 was delivered to you on 12/10/2019 nearly two years ago. Since that delivery, we have notated twelve hours of one on one support from our customer support team. Twenty hours of independent research into your case from questions presented by you. Twelve hours of lead engineer research time for your requested affidavit, and higher level research, and finally three hours of legal time into developing your many requested affidavits.

  
  Our Phase 2 service is a full data extraction of any devices provided to our lab, and customer support to use the software which holds the data. Our services are not designed to have our staff review and examine your data directly to build your case in any matter. However, in your case, our team spent an additional forty-seven hours assisting and working on your case. Beyond the additional research, our team also crafted multiple forensic affidavits for you in your pending matters. 

  
  This service was delivered nearly two years ago, and we have delivered multiple affidavits to you regarding the data. Also, as we discussed with you multiple times, we can only put information in an affidavit that is forensically accurate and based on the actual data. Multiple times, you requested that we add data that could either not be proven or was not forensically accurate. We apologize that you disagree with our experts, but there are levels of forensic standards we must keep. 

  
  We have finished this job by delivering the data as requested on 12/10/2019, and have provided you with multiple affidavits that were signed by our lead engineer and approved by our legal team. We believe that this complaint is not valid due to the age of the case, and stand by the work that has been performed in 2019.
  

  
  

  Business response

  11/29/2021

  *** *****, our final affidavit was sent to you, and signed by our head engineer, and we discussed that this would be our final change. You asked to add additional data points and opinion on that data that our Engineer was not comfortable with due to its nature of the data and the opinion you requested. Please remember that this is a legal document that our engineer is testifying to, we have to always respect his professional opinion, and this was stressed to you multiple times. Our final affidavit was delivered, and the final report was delivered when you received your Phase 2. 

  
  Please see below a direct excerpt from our Phase 2 authorization below explaining the Phase 2 process.

  
  “The Phase II process is designed to extract all type of data, including deleted information, from the device(s) submitted for investigation. The data is then placed into a searchable format, thereby allowing the Client to search through the data by such factors as date range and keywords. The data is separated into specific type of categories to make it more readily accessible and searchable. 

  
  Client is proceeding to Phase II of the investigation, fully acknowledging the possibility that any specific information or evidence being sought may not be located in the report. This is because Company does not make any representations or guarantees regarding the type of evidence that may be contained on the device and extracted for purposes of the Phase II Report.”

  
  We clearly state here that the searchable format will allow the client to search through the data, and that we will not make representations or guarantees regarding the evidence on the data. Searching through the Phase 2 data is and has always been the client's responsibility, as we do not know what data is the most important to you, and we do not know what is suspicious because you were the user of the device. This fact was also discussed with you. 

  
  We can not force our engineer to testify an opinion that they either can not prove or simply disagree with. We made alteration after alteration to your requested affidavit after our work was totally completed, and went above and beyond to make sure we did everything to help strengthen your case within forensic reason. We simply can only testify on what is forensically viable and present on the devices, and can not testify on theory.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/01/2021

  RECEIVED VIA EMAIL BY BBB STAFF MEMBER:

  Thank-you, ****** - 
  
  Thanks for responding.  I emailed my contact at the business yesterday just before emailing you.  Within an hour, his manager emailed back promptly with the needed report attached.  The employee apparently has not been with them for some time…not sure why they didn’t send that immediately instead of making all kinds of excuses, but anyway!!  
  
  The complaint is resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I hired digital Forensics Investigators out of Warrensville Heights Oh. In September of 2020. I have been calling them and wanting them to send me all the documents pertaining to Case No: ******. I have called them five separate times concerning this matter. This company did a business for me we just completed our business in less than a year ago. I received their last attempt in reaching out to me on July 27, 2021. They claim that there was no breach or hack on the devices that I had sent them, however there was photos that proved them differently. I want them to send me all the documents pertaining to the case mentioned...Case No: ******. I also would like them to send me all the information that they dispersed to any party's? They claim that there was no breach on my Home Dell computer and my I-phone and they refunded me the money on my I-pad stating it was never breached. I just wan to receive all documents and if not by postal service to my E-mail address at hand ******************. Thank You!

  Business response

  11/05/2021

  Thank you for brining this to our attention, and we apologize if communication has been lack luster in your experience. I have already emailed you over every document we have on file for your case to the email you provided. There are three authorization forms and a copy of your 
  Phase 1 report.

  
  I have reviewed the notes and calls from the case, it looks like after our technical support representative discussed remote connections, you expressed that you wanted to take the info to the FBI and the discussion ended. Please remember that we can only report on the data that is extracted from the device itself. 

  
  Lastly, we enact a *** with every client in our authorization form. None of your data has been shared with any 3rd party. Thank you for being a customer, and if there is anything else we can do, please let us know.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  11/10/2021

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  **** *****
  
  I got the response from the business and they were helpful thank you

• Initial Complaint

  10/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  So, I hired this company 2 weeks ago because I fell victim to a dating scam. The perpetrator or perpetrators got some personal information from me and were attempting to blackmail me. Digital forensics claimed with the services they provided, they could track this guy down, contact local law enforcement where he resides, and put him behind bars where he deserves to be. They really manipulated me when I was already in a vulnerable state of mind dealing with the blackmailer. So I paid them $2000 to resolve my case within 7 days, so they claim. First of all, I could never get ahold of my case manager over the phone, or the lady working on the case. They are almost impossible to reach by phone. So after 8 days, my case manager finally gets ahold of me to go over the details on the case. With the information they have, I think they could probably get this guy incarcerated for a while if they'd actually do their job with the clients like they claim. Well, needless to say, the blackmailer contacted me again this week, so it's like what did I just pay for. Nothing was accomplished. I almost feel like I was a victim of one scam only to fall victim to another scam of someone pretending to help.

  Business response

  10/29/2021

  Hello, 

  
  Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 

  
  It seems we have came to an agreement with you earlier in the day. If this is not yet resolved, please feel free to reach out. Thank you!!

   

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In 2019 I experienced a data breach in which my personal information was compromised and I researched services through the internet. I came across Digital Forensics Corp Located in Ohio. I spoke with the representative and they told me that they could offer a service to solve the issue I was having. I've paid the company for several services and they have not provided me with the remedy promised to alleviate me from the constant hacking. 2019 $900 for Cyber Harassment services, September 2020 $1000 for Malware/Spyware services, October 2020 $1500 for Cyber Harassment services, 2021 $ Data Recovery Services. Now I've paid for the services for the Cyber Harassment Service in September/October 2020 and in October 2021 I was told the service could not be performed. The service was supposed to be performed in 60 days as for what I paid for. I sent in several documents, hard-drives, cell phones, computers, as well with basically having a remote service acquisition done and showing them exactly where the issue was. The company insisted on telling me there were no issues going on. Instead of providing me with a Phase-1/Phase-2 report for Cyber Harassment they issued me a Phase-1/Phase-2 report for Malware/Spyware report the same service in which I had a remote acquisition performed on a few months prior to sending in the devices to them. In October/September 2021 I signed up for Data Recovery service in which I was quoted at a price of $300 for the service and 14 business days for the job to be completed. The Customer service representative told me on a phone call a few days after it would cost a extra $1125 and it would take 6-8 business weeks for the service to be completed. When I asked for my money back for the Cyber Harassment service not being completed I was sent a Refund/Settlement Agreement. In this settlement agreement they wanted to tie in the services pertaining to both Cyber Harassment/Data Recovery Services together. Refund in its entirety.

  Business response

  10/27/2021

  Thank you for brining this to our attention.

   

  Upon review of this case, it appears we have a signed settlement agreement about your case. In the settlement agreement, we offered you a free service. While the free service was completed, you were still unsatisfied. Going above and beyond, we offered you a refund, despite having the agreement already in place. However, you refused to sign a the final settlement agreement. If you have any additional qeustions, please feel free to reach out. Thank you! 

  Business response

  10/28/2021

  Hello,

   

  We are more than happy to discuss this with you and offer you a refund. However, we will need some form of a settlement agreement in place. Thank you!

   

  Customer response

  10/29/2021

  Back in February 2021 I signed a document with you guys regarding free services at that point my money should have been refunded to me at that point here it is going on November and you guys are asking me for a settlement agreement I do not want to sign any more documentation with the company at this point all I want is my funds returned to me for services that cannot be performed

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