Worcester County Sheriff's Office Press Release 3-22-13

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office has received several recent calls from citizens that report an attempt to extort money from them while using the internet. It is believed that this is part of a widespread scheme to extort money from certain personal computer users. 

The FBI has reported that this Citadel Malware delivers “Reveton Ransomware” to your personal computer. A victim is lured to a drive by download at which time the “Ransomeware” is installed on the user’s computer. Once installed, the computer freezes and a screen is displayed warning the user that they have violated United States Federal Law. The message further states that the users IP address was identified by the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section as visiting child pornography or other illegal content. 

To unlock the computer the user is instructed to pay a fine using prepaid money card services. In addition to the “Ransomware”, the virus continues to be active on the computer and may be used to commit online banking and credit card fraud. 

If you are a victim of this type of fraud it is suggested that you contact your banking institutions and file a complaint at www.IC3.gov. For more information on e-mail scams and warnings, concerned citizens can go to the FBI website and look under the tab, INTERNET CRIMES