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Many Australians Forced To Pay For "Unbreakable" Cryptolocker Ransomware
An anonymous reader writes: Australians are paying thousands of dollars to overseas hackers to rid their computers of an unbreakable virus [Cryptolocker]. The deputy chairwoman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Delia Rickard, said over the past two months there had been a spike in the number of people falling victim to the scam. The commission has received 2,500 complaints this year and estimates about $400,000 has been paid to the hackers. Bad news for Australians: this is just one of many targetting the country.
Compared to the amount we get overcharged by companies in America, just the extra my clients have paid for cad over the last 10 years would easily cover that cover that ($10000 for a 2 user license last year for example). So who are the real crooks?
Scam would imply this is some kind of fraud or swindle, like a con artist trying to trick you. This is plain extortion, they've kidnapped your data and is holding it ransom. If bad things really do happen if you don't pay, it's not a scam any more than being robbed at gunpoint is.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Current ransomware will just destroy your data. But wait until the crimeware authors switch to "pay us X btc, or we'll make make your online activitiy look like that of a terrorist."
If you survive the raid on your house.
Think "swatting", just done for profit and on a larger scale. And these criminals usually don't get caught, unlike the usual revenge swatter.