Ransomware Fraud Targets Mac Users: The FAKE 'FBI' Wants Your Dough

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Source article:

FBI Ransomware Now Targeting Apple’s Mac OS X Users
http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligence/2013/07/fbi-ransomware-now-targeting-apples-mac-os-x-users/

Symptoms:

You visit a rat scam infested web page and...

Warnings appearing to be from the FBI tell the victim: “you have been viewing or distributing prohibited Pornographic content.. To unlock your computer and to avoid other legal consequences, you are obligated to pay a release fee of $300.”

The rat scam's web page URL is clearly NOT the FBI's.

If you choose to ignore the message (which you should), you cannot get rid of the page...

Repeated attempts to close the page will only lead to frustration as even the “Leave Page” browser trick does not work...

If you “force quit” the application, the same ransomware page will come back the next time to restart Safari because of the “restore from crash” feature which loads backs the last URL visited before the browser was quit unexpectedly. Talk about a vicious circle....

The Cure:

If you encounter the rat scam using Safari:

There is a way to get rid of it (without clicking on the prompt 150 times) and more importantly without paying the $300 ransom. Click on the Safari menu and then choose “Reset Safari”.... Make sure all items are marked and hit the Reset button....

This scam is unfortunately all too efficient and is not going away anytime soon.

Malwarebytes kindly provides a video describing the scam and how to kill it in Safari, HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6tvti4UjU

Other web browsers have similar Reset options.


-->If you're using WOT (Web Of Trust), be sure to scarify & stigmatize the evil rat scam page. This will help protect potential future victims.

The FBI rat scam is very old on Windows. Apparently, the malware rats are getting a bit desperate about finding a way to attack Mac users. Therefore, they've taken this dusty old rat skeleton out of mothballs in hopes of abusing the most gullible of 'LUSERS'.

Don't be scammed!
'Tis mere fatuous frippery from foul foolish frauds. ;-)

* I'm getting to like the Malwarebytes blog! I'll consider tossing it into the 'Friends of Mac-Security' link list.

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