Victims can end up paying a total of $1,250 (€923)

Dec 3, 2013 09:04 GMT  ·  By

Cybercriminals are trying to make an extra buck by tricking unsuspecting users into buying an antivirus from them for $500 (€370). 

A few months ago, Malwarebytes researchers came across a browser-based FBI ransomware designed to trick victims into paying a so-called fine for accessing illegal content online.

Later, the same cybercrooks started demanding more money from internauts who wanted to have their criminal records deleted.

Now, they’re pushing it even further, asking victims to pay $500 (€370) for an antivirus program that will allegedly alert them about criminal and illegal content. Just to be clear, the scammers are not asking politely. Instead, they tell victims they’re “obligated to buy [the] safe antivirus.”

This means that if a user agrees to pay to unblock the browser, remove criminal records and for the bogus antivirus, he/she ends up paying a total of $1,250 (€923).

Users targeted in this campaign should not pay up. Unlike other pieces of ransomware, this one is fairly easy to remove. Malwarebytes has made a detailed advisory on how to remove the threat.