Budenz Investigations

09/08/2025

Anyone can be a victim to scammers.

We currently have been made aware that someone is claiming to be with our company and attempting to extort hush money.

We have determined the follow facts.

They are falsely using our company name to create a sense of authority
All victims have recently been on, or have an UPWARD dating App or have an account.
All victims so far have been contacted with the Name J. Palmer and all contact my text of phone call.
One of the numbers is a REAL cell phone and the other we have found is a VOIP ( fake number)

If you have received a call or text message from someone identifying himself as J. Palmer or with our company.

PLEASE DO NOT engage. DO NOT send money.

This is an extortion scam.

As a company we do not participate in extorsion or blackmail of people on behalf of our clients (or anyone).

Please report it to your local police agency.

This is a slight variation of an old scam.

Where they create fake dating / social media account and send unsolicited naked photos of a person. Sometimes they will claim its underage ( but they wont risk sending child p**n, so often it a young looking person) then they will contact you my email or text message.
Please contact us to "discuss a serious situation".
They will claim you are now in possession of naked photos of someone and you need to pay them to not report you or not send details to your family members.
They may falsely claim to be with our company, a lawyer office, or even the police.
They request payment with Green Dot, prepaid credit cards, gift cards, or even Cash App or Venmo

05/13/2025

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana-state-officials-warn-scam-email-text-messages-office-of-technology/531-676f4428-845b-4b98-a439-c07478bf66ee

The Indiana Office of Technology said it does not send unpaid toll notifications via text or email messages.

02/24/2025

We’ve had several recent instances where residents have received fraudulent text messages about paying tolls. Please don’t become a victim.

04/22/2023

https://digg.com/tech/link/how-long-it-takes-to-get-password-hacked-hive-systems-qxSILkeChI

Modern day security measures are a good way to keep things in check, but if someone really wants to get into your accounts, this is how long it'd take them based on your password.

04/10/2023

The law enforcement agency said that bad actors had figured out how to infect phones with malware using public charging cables.

03/08/2023

There were over 1 million stolen cars in the U.S. in 2022 according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which cited weak law enforcement.

02/04/2023

Thanks to my friends out there who helped on this.

PROVIDENCE – An Indiana woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Rhode Island, charged with perpetrating an online romance scam that allegedly defrauded a 96-year-old Coventry widower of approximately $80,000, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

01/27/2023

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office is warning people after seeing reports about police impersonation scams.

11/22/2022

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/charted-the-dark-web-price-index-2022/

This chart looks at some of the common items that are sold on the Dark Web, and how much they sold for on average in 2022

11/10/2022

(FOX59) — A 19-year-old Indiana woman is recounting her traumatic experience of being sexually exploited as a child. The woman, who asked us to conceal her identity, was a victim of sextortion. She…

11/09/2022

A statewide missing persons notification has been declared in the disappearances of a 3-year-old boy and the boyfriend of his mother.