If your computer is locked and an FBI seal comes across your screen with a demand that you pay hundreds of dollars because of alleged copyright infringement, do not worry. You are not alone. Just be sure not to enter any of your credit card information.
The Staten Island Advance reported on June 13 that messages from a “so-called FBI cyber-crime department” usually mean that your computer has been infected with a “ransomware” virus, probably the result of clicking on an unfamiliar email or website. The website 2-spyware.com says the bogus FBI virus “is a sneaky malware, which mostly gets inside its target computer undetected with a help of Trojan.LockScreen.”
The Advance reported that on caller to the newspaper said that a warning was accusing him of “some sort of copyright infringement or illegal downloading and said he needed to pay $475 to unlock his computer and keep from being charged with a crime.” However, the “FBI Virus,” a global internet scam, gets into a person’s computer and uses a fake message with the FBI seal to lock the computer screen. According to the Advance, it then, “almost like a ransom demand,” gives the user “an ultimatum to pay a fine to unlock the computer and stay out of jail.”
“It will hold the computer basically hostage,” Cleveland FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson told WEWS-TV. “It can also take over the cybercam that’s connected to that computer and will snap a picture of the individual that’s using that computer … Some people have fallen for paying that fee and others have paid that fee and their computer unlocks, but the virus isn’t gone. So don’t pay that fee and take the computer to someone reputable that can clean it for you.”
You can learn more about intellectual property law by visiting our website. If you have need assistance with filing a genuine copyright infringement claim, Los Angeles business litigation attorney Robert G. Klein has over a quarter-century of experience with complex business litigation claims. Use the form on this page or contact our firm at [number] to have our Los Angeles copyright infringement lawyer review your case.
Klein Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles business litigation lawyers
Quick Klein Extra: A Symantec report last year said that the most common forms of cybercrime such as malware like viruses, affected an estimated 556 million adults around the world.