Netizens warned over online scammers demanding money using 'fake FBI message'

Washington, Aug 10 (ANI): The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned computer users to ignore a message, purportedly from its officers, that freezes people's screens and asks them to pay a fine for visiting inappropriate websites.

According to Donna Gregory from the US Internet Crime Complaint Centre, the virus known as Reveton ransomware, has hit users in the US and globally.

"We're getting inundated with complaints. Some people have actually paid the so-called fine," News24 quoted Gregory, as saying.

The virus, 'drive-by malware', installs itself when a user clicks on a compromised website and issues a message saying a federal law has been broken, she said.

According to a statement by the FBI, the 'bogus message says that the user's internet address was identified by the FBI or the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section as having been associated with child pornography sites or other illegal online activity'.

To unlock their machines, users are required to pay a fine using a prepaid money card service, it said.

According to the report, Gregory said there is no easy fix for users whose computers have been infected.

"Unlike other viruses, Reveton freezes your computer and stops it in its tracks. And the average user will not be able to easily remove the malware," she said. (ANI)