Police Warn of Email, Computer Scams

The recently released the following information regarding an email phishing scam that was received by the Baltimore City Police Department and posted on the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center E-Scams & Warnings.

According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3):

The IC3 has been made aware of a new Citadel malware platform used to deliver ransomware, named Reveton. The ransomware lures the victim to a drive-by download website, at which time the ransomware is installed on the user’s computer. Once installed, the computer freezes and a screen is displayed warning the user they have violated United States federal law. The message further declares the user’s IP address was identified by the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section as visiting child pornography and other illegal content.

To unlock the computer, the user is instructed to pay a $100 fine to the U.S. Department of Justice using prepaid money card services. The geographic location of the user’s IP address determines what payment services are offered. In addition to the ransomware, the Citadel malware continues to operate on the compromised computer and can be used to commit online banking and credit card fraud.

This is an attempt to extort money with the additional possibility of the victim’s computer being used to participate in online bank fraud. If you have received this or something similar, do not follow payment instructions.

It is suggested that you:

• Contact your banking institutions.
• File a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

Newtown Police Lt. Chris Lunn states in an email, "Remember to never click on a link in an unsolicited email and delete any suspicious emails right away. These types of scams are trying to gain access to your personal information to steal your credit or get access to your bank accounts."

Callers Pretend To Be Microsoft Employees, Hack Into Resident's Computer

On May 19 at approximately 10:14 a.m., received a call regarding a possible computer scam. The complainant told police he received a phone call reportedly from Microsoft. According to the incident report, the male caller was described to have said that they needed to get access to his computer as it may crash due to internal problems.

The man assumed that it was okay to give the information since the caller was from Microsoft, stated police in the incident report. Since then, the complainant told police they had remotely accessed his computer and have been trying to “work through the issues.”

According to the report, the complainant called Microsoft who confirmed they would not have called to access a person's computer. The male caller told the complainant he was located in Canada and then in Switzerland. According to the report, throughout that time, there were possibly more than one male caller and additionally one or two female callers. The phone number that the calls came from was identified as: 1-866-658-8142.

Have you received any Internet scams or been a victim of one?