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The warning is fake, tries to extort money.
By Paul Muschick | The Watchdog
If your computer suddenly freezes and the screen says the FBI has locked it because you broke the law, ignore the threat that you'll be locked up unless you pay up. It's the latest scam.
A Whitehall Township, PA senior citizen got scared into sending $200 to the crooks. His computer isn't the only one locally that's caught the virus. An Allentown computer shop owner told me he's seen several infected PC's in the past few weeks.
The Whitehall man told me his screen turned green last week and a message appeared with the FBI logo. It told him he'd downloaded music, movies or video games illegally and could face three years in prison.
The warning instructed him to obtain a lawyer or pay a $200 fine, which he could do by going to the drug store, buying a MoneyPak prepaid card and entering the card number on his computer. The virus also hijacked his webcam. It snapped his photo and inserted it in the threatening message on the screen.
"It said, 'We have your picture, we know who you are now,'" the man told me.
That was enough to scare him into buying the prepaid card. He wasn't convinced the threat was legit, but he'd actually had run-ins with federal authorities in the past, and he didn't want to go through that again.
He said the IRS had hounded him for months during a dispute he eventually won. And FBI agents visited him once to make sure he showed up to testify before a grand jury in a case involving his employer.
"When you've dealt with them people before you don't mess around with them," the man told me.
I'm not sure precisely how the virus infected his computer. He told me he was cleaning out his spam email when the message appeared. Authorities say the virus is particularly dangerous because it can install itself when someone simply clicks on a compromised website. It doesn't require you to open an infected attachment or link as many viruses do.
The man and his wife contacted Whitehall police, who told them it was a scam. By providing the number of the prepaid card, he'd given the con artist the ability to spend it. The couple called me to ask that I spread the word that this virus is spreading, and people shouldn't believe the FBI is after you based on a message on your computer.
"If they're going to put you in jail for three years, they're going to come to your door and get you," the victim's wife told me. "I just think other people should know."
This is the first report of the scam to Whitehall police, and there's not much investigators can do, Lt. Bruce Buckno said.
"It all looks very official. It has the FBI logo and everything at the top," he said. "Some people see that and they panic, so they do what it tells them."
Buckno said people who are confronted with this situation or others that sound fishy should contact police before taking action.
Several agencies, including the FBI and AARP have issued warnings about this scam.
The FBI doesn't take payment for fines via prepaid cards, and it doesn't notify people of criminal offenses via the computer. If the FBI is after you, it will visit you in person.
"Even if you were illegally downloading something, law enforcement would not send you a pop-up warning message," the Better Business Bureau advises. "Law enforcement does not warn you in the majority of instances. If you do the crime, the punishment will match the crime."
Authorities say the virus is known as Reveton.
"Unlike other viruses, Reveton freezes your computer and stops it in its tracks," Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint Center said in a recent warning. "And the average user will not be able to easily remove the malware."
Curt Kuhns, owner of Electronic Repair Center in Allentown, told me he's seen about six infected computers over the past few weeks. He said some victims told him their computer became disabled after they opened an email; others said they had clicked on a Web page.
He said some brand-name virus protection programs have failed to block the virus. He said he's been able to restore his customers' computers by using a combination of cleaning software.
Kuhns warns to be careful with any pop-up windows that appear on your desktop. He said the best way to remove them is to delete the window through your PC's "task manager," which you can access with the key combination ctrl-alt-delete. Kuhns said it's best to keep your mouse away from the pop-up window and don't try to close it by clicking on it.
"Don't click anywhere near it," he said.
The scam victim from Whitehall told me his computer didn't unlock after he paid the supposed fine. He said he got it working again by restarting his modem, running anti-virus software and deleting his temporary files, though he's a little nervous that problems still could be lurking behind the scenes.
Various technology websites explain how you can try to fix your computer if it freezes up from this scam. I can't vouch for any of those cures, but they're easy to find online if you want to try.
By Paul Muschick | The Watchdog
If your computer suddenly freezes and the screen says the FBI has locked it because you broke the law, ignore the threat that you'll be locked up unless you pay up. It's the latest scam.
A Whitehall Township, PA senior citizen got scared into sending $200 to the crooks. His computer isn't the only one locally that's caught the virus. An Allentown computer shop owner told me he's seen several infected PC's in the past few weeks.
The Whitehall man told me his screen turned green last week and a message appeared with the FBI logo. It told him he'd downloaded music, movies or video games illegally and could face three years in prison.
The warning instructed him to obtain a lawyer or pay a $200 fine, which he could do by going to the drug store, buying a MoneyPak prepaid card and entering the card number on his computer. The virus also hijacked his webcam. It snapped his photo and inserted it in the threatening message on the screen.
"It said, 'We have your picture, we know who you are now,'" the man told me.
That was enough to scare him into buying the prepaid card. He wasn't convinced the threat was legit, but he'd actually had run-ins with federal authorities in the past, and he didn't want to go through that again.
He said the IRS had hounded him for months during a dispute he eventually won. And FBI agents visited him once to make sure he showed up to testify before a grand jury in a case involving his employer.
"When you've dealt with them people before you don't mess around with them," the man told me.
I'm not sure precisely how the virus infected his computer. He told me he was cleaning out his spam email when the message appeared. Authorities say the virus is particularly dangerous because it can install itself when someone simply clicks on a compromised website. It doesn't require you to open an infected attachment or link as many viruses do.
The man and his wife contacted Whitehall police, who told them it was a scam. By providing the number of the prepaid card, he'd given the con artist the ability to spend it. The couple called me to ask that I spread the word that this virus is spreading, and people shouldn't believe the FBI is after you based on a message on your computer.
"If they're going to put you in jail for three years, they're going to come to your door and get you," the victim's wife told me. "I just think other people should know."
This is the first report of the scam to Whitehall police, and there's not much investigators can do, Lt. Bruce Buckno said.
"It all looks very official. It has the FBI logo and everything at the top," he said. "Some people see that and they panic, so they do what it tells them."
Buckno said people who are confronted with this situation or others that sound fishy should contact police before taking action.
Several agencies, including the FBI and AARP have issued warnings about this scam.
The FBI doesn't take payment for fines via prepaid cards, and it doesn't notify people of criminal offenses via the computer. If the FBI is after you, it will visit you in person.
"Even if you were illegally downloading something, law enforcement would not send you a pop-up warning message," the Better Business Bureau advises. "Law enforcement does not warn you in the majority of instances. If you do the crime, the punishment will match the crime."
Authorities say the virus is known as Reveton.
"Unlike other viruses, Reveton freezes your computer and stops it in its tracks," Donna Gregory of the Internet Crime Complaint Center said in a recent warning. "And the average user will not be able to easily remove the malware."
Curt Kuhns, owner of Electronic Repair Center in Allentown, told me he's seen about six infected computers over the past few weeks. He said some victims told him their computer became disabled after they opened an email; others said they had clicked on a Web page.
He said some brand-name virus protection programs have failed to block the virus. He said he's been able to restore his customers' computers by using a combination of cleaning software.
Kuhns warns to be careful with any pop-up windows that appear on your desktop. He said the best way to remove them is to delete the window through your PC's "task manager," which you can access with the key combination ctrl-alt-delete. Kuhns said it's best to keep your mouse away from the pop-up window and don't try to close it by clicking on it.
"Don't click anywhere near it," he said.
The scam victim from Whitehall told me his computer didn't unlock after he paid the supposed fine. He said he got it working again by restarting his modem, running anti-virus software and deleting his temporary files, though he's a little nervous that problems still could be lurking behind the scenes.
Various technology websites explain how you can try to fix your computer if it freezes up from this scam. I can't vouch for any of those cures, but they're easy to find online if you want to try.
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