[X4U] FBI Ransom Scam

Paul Moortgat paul.moortgat at pandora.be
Sun Jul 21 20:28:49 PDT 2013


A while ago, a friend got this on his PC and he contacted the police.  They appointed him to a telephone number and there was told what to do.
That didn't help.  What he needed to do couldn't be done because it was blocked.  He had to pay 35 euro to a dealer to fix it instead of the 100 euro they asked him.

Paul Moortgat


On 22 Jul 2013, at 00:54, Randy B. Singer wrote:

> There is a new, fairly common scam going around. Though it is alarming to encounter, it isn't as big a deal as it seems at first.
> 
> You will visit a site, and you will get a message saying that your browser has been disabled by the FBI, and unless you pay a ransom you won't get functionality back. You will find that you apparently can't regain control of your browser.
> 
> The message does not come from the FBI, and paying the ransom won't help. The good news is that no malicious software has been downloaded onto your Macintosh, and it is fairly easy to regain control of your browser.
> 
> See:
> http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57593943-263/how-to-tackle-javascript-based-ransomware-sites/
> 
> In most cases you can simply switch to the Finder, choose Force Quit from the Apple menu, and force quit your browser.
> 
> If you are using Safari you should choose Reset Safari from the Safari menu while within Safari.
> 
> This is not a "virus", and indeed there is no software that has been downloaded to your computer. Reset Safari and you are entirely good.
> 
> 
> ___________________________________________
> Randy B. Singer
> Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)
> 
> Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
> http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html



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