For your safety, do not leave a personal phone number on suspicious sites, purchase SMS numbers and activate any accounts safely!
Paul Ducklin of Sophos Labs has published a report that puts this fraud in the clear. They explode user mailboxes with scary-sounding messages that say that your computer is infected and treatment will only be after paying for bitcoins.
The message claims that malware has already been sent to the computer of the potential victim, but has not yet been activated. Users are told that after the payment deadline their files will be encrypted and lost forever. They also threaten that the infection will spread to any other computers connected to the same network, and that even your iOS and Android devices and files stored in the cloud are under their control.
Oh, and no need to run an antivirus scan. This new software is so secretive that no security software will detect it.
This ominous message aims to unbalance the user and bring him to a stressful situation.
Of course, this is fake blackmail, and you should not give him much attention and even more so transfer money.
WannaCry Ransomware is certainly capable of causing such damage. That’s why the sender went with the name “WannaCry Hack Team” and why the first line of the threatening message says “WannaCry is back!”
Fraudsters desperately hope that the victims will recall the chaos surrounding WannaCry, and there were many. Multinationals have suffered 7 and 8 figure losses as a result of WannaCry infection. Dozens of government computer systems had to be shut down. Sensational headlines about WannaCry infections have appeared all over the Internet.
These cybercriminals hope that a mere mention of WannaCry will motivate people to pay. People who will panic think only that they can lose their precious files and it’s easier to pay to prevent this from happening.
Correct answer? Delete email forever.
Having done this, take the opportunity to make sure that your operating system and web browser are fully updated. If you already have a reliable backup system, make sure that it works. If you do not, you will not have time to eliminate this case, if you really come across a real ransomware infection. A good starting point is to subscribe to a cloud service such as BackBlaze or Carbonite.
