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Inside a Ransomware Money Machine

Posted by Unknown on from the spam-this-time-it-breaks-your-legs dept.

tsu doh nimh writes "The FBI is warning that it's getting inundated with complaints from people taken in by ransomware scams that spoof the FBI and try to scare people into paying 'fines' in lieu of going to jail for having downloaded kiddie porn or pirated content. KrebsOnSecurity.com looks inside a few of the scams in the FBI alert, and it turns out it only takes 1-3 percent of victims to pay up to make it seriously worth the fraudsters' while."

8 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Spoof the FBI? by delta98 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Poor Hoover must be spinning in his bustier.

    1. Re:Spoof the FBI? by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Funny

      Sucks to be him.

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  2. Re:The best defense against scams by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm continually dismayed that large numbers of people--

    Oh, so many ways to finish that sentence.

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  3. Re:Hah! by dmomo · · Score: 4, Funny

    "my buddy"

    So, did you end up paying?

  4. Re:The best defense against scams by Canazza · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got an email saying they'd pay me a million dollars if I helped some arab guy transfer his money.

    Sultan of Swing or something.

    --
    It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
  5. Re:Scams by firewrought · · Score: 5, Funny

    The first time you will even hear from them they will be kicking in your front door, seize you and all your electronics.

    And it's that sort of personalized attention that makes American law enforcement the best! :O

    --
    -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
  6. Re:The best defense against scams by Hatta · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Nigerian prince scam worked only on people who were willing to help somebody commit money laundering.

    I think the Nigerian prince scam works only on people who are too stupid to understand what money laundering is.

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  7. Re:The best defense against scams by wildstoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm continually dismayed that large numbers of people...

    ...exist.