New scam tricks victims into paying hefty fines

Imagine receiving a notice from the FBI that your computer has been locked because you visited an illegal website then demands you pay a fine or criminal charges will be filed.

Consumers receive what appears to be an authentic message from the FBI but it’s actually part of a new online extortion designed to deliver “ransomware.” Once infected, the victim’s computer locks up and demands a ransom within 72 hours.

To unlock the computer, the user is instructed to pay a fee of $200 using a Green Dot MoneyPak Card. Once the Green Dot card is obtained, the user is instructed to enter in the card’s code to release the funds. Those who pay the “fine” still have a broken computer.

In addition to the ransomware, the FBI warns, Citadel malware can continue to operate on the infected computer and can be used to commit online banking and credit card fraud. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for this type of malware and the average computer user will not be able to fix the problem.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) suggests the following advice:

• Do not pay any money or provide personal information.
• Contact a computer professional to remove the malware from the computer.
• Be aware, even if the user is able to unfreeze the computer on his or her own, the malware may still be present on the computer and operate in the background. Certain types of malware have been known to capture personal information, such as user names, passwords and credit card numbers through embedded keystroke programs.
• File a complaint at ic3.gov/default.aspx.

Bottom line: Assume any email or online notice from the government is a scam, especially if it doesn’t include your name specifically in the notice.