If your computer is locked, and you are seeing a “Your computer has been locked!” notification from the POLICE CYBERCRIME Investigation Departament, then your computer is infected with a piece of malware known as Trojan Reveton.
This threat is distributed through several means. Malicious websites, or legitimate websites that have been compromised, may drop the threat onto a compromised computer. This drive-by-download often happens surreptitiously. Another method used to propagate this type of malware is spam email containing infected attachments or links to malicious websites. The threat may also be downloaded manually by tricking the user into thinking they are installing a useful piece of software. Ransomware is also prevalent on peer-to-peer file sharing websites and is often packaged with pirated or illegally acquired software.
Once installed on your computer, the POLICE CYBERCRIME virus will display a bogus notification, that pretends to be from the official law enforcement agency and states that your computer has been blocked due to it being involved with the distribution of pornographic material, SPAM and copyrighted content.
The POLICE CYBERCRIME virus will lock you out of your computer and applications, so whenever you’ll try to log on into your Windows operating system or Safe Mode with Networking, it will display instead a lock screen asking you to pay a non-existing fine in the form of a Ukash,MoneyPak orPaySafeCard code.
Furthermore, to make its alert seem more authentic, this virus also has the ability to access your installed webcam, so that the bogus POLICE CYBERCRIME notification shows what is happening in the room.
The POLICE CYBERCRIME notification is used by cyber criminals alongside the name of known international law enforcement agencies like Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),Europol and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or local law enforcement agencies: Polizia di Stato, Metropolitan Police and Canada Police.
The message displayed by the threat can be localized depending on the user’s location, with text written in the appropriate language. Depending on the variant, the Trojan may only display a message in the language spoken by its authors, or the country that was intended as the main target of the attack.
Here is an example of how the bogus POLICE CYBERCRIME notification:
THE FIREWALL OF THE UNITED STATES
COMPUTER BLOCKED
This computer has been blocked to Americans by the US Government FirewallIllegally downloaded material
(audio, videos or software)
has been located on your computerBy downloading, those were reproduced, thereby involving a criminal offence under Section 106 of Copyright Act.
The downloading of the copyrighted material via the Internet or music sharing networks is illegal and is in the accordance with Section 106 of the Copyright Act subject to a fine or imprisonment for a penalty of up to 3 years.
Furthermore, possession of illegally downloaded material is punishable under Section 184 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code and may also lead to the confiscation of the computer, with which the files were downloaded.
To perform the payment, enter the acquired GreenDot MoneyPack code in the designated payment field and press the “OK” button.
The The Firewall Of The United States Ransom is a scam, and you should ignore any alert that this malicious software might generate.
Under no circumstance should you send any money via MoneyPak to these cyber criminals, as this could lead to identity theft,and if you have, you can request a refund from Greendot MoneyPak >> HERE << , stating that the payment was due to a scam and a computer virus.
POLICE CYBERCRIME – Virus Removal Instructions
STEP 1: Remove POLICE CYBERCRIME lock screen from your computer
POLICE CYBERCRIME MoneyPak Ransom has modified your Windows registry and added its malicious files to run at start-up, so whenever you’re trying to boot your computer it will launch instead its bogus notification.To remove these malicious changes, we can use any of the below methods :
Method 1: Start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking and scan for malware
Some variants of POLICE CYBERCRIME virus will allow the users to start the infected computer in Safe Mode with Networking without displaying the bogus lock screen. In this first method, we will try to start the computer in Safe Mode with Networking and then scan for malware to remove the malicious files.
- Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.
- Press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts.Please keep in mind that you need to press the F8 key before the Windows start-up logo appears.
Note: With some computers, if you press and hold a key as the computer is booting you will get a stuck key message. If this occurs, instead of pressing and holding the “F8 key”, tap the “F8 key” continuously until you get the Advanced Boot Options screen. - On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking , and then press ENTER.
- If your computer has started in Safe Mode with Networking, you’ll need to perform a system scan (as seen on STEP 2) with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and HitmanPro to remove the malicious files from your machine.
IF the POLICE CYBERCRIME virus didn’t allow you to start the computer in Safe Mode with Networking,you’ll need to follow Method 2 to get rid of its lock screen.
Method 2: Restore Windows to a previous state using System Restore
System Restore can return your computer system files and programs to a time when everything was working fine, so we will try to use this Windows feature to get rid of POLICE CYBERCRIME lock screen.
- Restart your computer, and then press and hold F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in safe mode with a Command prompt.
Note: With some computers, if you press and hold a key as the computer is booting you will get a stuck key message. If this occurs, instead of pressing and holding the “F8 key”, tap the “F8 key” continuously until you get the Advanced Boot Options screen. - Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode with a Command prompt option.
- At the command prompt, type cd restore, and then press ENTER.
Next,we will type rstrui.exe , and then press ENTER.
Alternatively, Windows Vista, 7 and 8 users, can just type : C:\windows\system32\rstrui.exe.
If you are using Windows XP, you will need to type C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER.
- The System Restore window will start and you’ll need to select a restore point previous to this infection.
- After System Restore has completed its task,you should be able to boot in Windows normal mode,from there you’ll need to perform a system scan (as seen on STEP 2) with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and HitmanPro to remove the malicious files from your machine.
IF the POLICE CYBERCRIME virus didn’t allow you to start the computer in Safe Mode with Command Prompt you’ll need to follow Method 3, to get rid of its screen lock.
Method 3: Remove POLICE CYBERCRIME virus with HitmanPro Kickstart
IF you couldn’t boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt or didn’t have a System Restore point on your machine, we can use HitmanPro Kickstart to bypass this infection and access your computer to scan it for malware.
- We will need to create a HitmanPro Kickstart USB flash drive,so while you are using a “clean” (non-infected) computer, download HitmanPro from the below link.
HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a download page in a new window from where you can download HitmanPro) - Insert your USB flash drive into your computer and follow the instructions from the below video:
- After you have create the HitmanPro Kickstart USB flash drive, you can insert this USB drive into the infected machine and start your computer.
- Once the computer starts, repeatedly tap the F11 key (on some machines its F10 or F2),which should bring up the Boot Menu, from there you can select to boot from your USB.
Next,you’ll need to perform a system scan with HitmanPro as see in the below video:
- After HitmanPro Kickstart has completed its task,you should be able to boot in Windows normal mode,from there you’ll need to perform a system scan (as seen on STEP 2) with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and HitmanPro to remove the malicious files from your machine.
STEP 2: Remove POLICE CYBERCRIME malicious files from your computer
No matter what method you have used to get rid of POLICE CYBERCRIME lock screen, we will need to remove its malicious files from your computer.
Please download and run a scan with the following scan to completely remove POLICE CYBERCRIME virus from your computer.
Run a computer scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
- You can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free from the below link,then double click on it to install this program.
MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK(This link will open a download page in a new window from where you can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free) - When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the setup process.
DO NOT make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked,then click on the Finish button.
- On the Scanner tab,select Perform quick scan and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer.
- Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for POLICE CYBERCRIME virus as shown below.
- When the Malwarebytes scan will be completed,click on Show Result.
- You will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected.Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked) and click on the Remove Selected button.
- After your computer will restart in Normal mode, open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and perform a Full System scan to verify that there are no remaining threats
Run a computer scan with HitmanPro
- Download HitmanPro from the below link,then double click on it to start this program.
HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download HitmanPro)
IF you are experiencing problems while trying to start HitmanPro, you can use the Force Breach mode.To start HitmanPro in Force Breach mode, hold down the left CTRL-key when you start HitmanPro and all non-essential processes are terminated, including the malware process. (How to start HitmanPro in Force Breach mode – Video) - HitmanPro will start and you’ll need to follow the prompts (by clicking on the Next button) to start a system scan with this program.
- HitmanPro will start scanning your computer for POLICE CYBERCRIME malicious files as seen in the image below.
- Once the scan is complete,you’ll see a screen which will display all the infected files that this utility has detected, and you’ll need to click on Next to remove these malicious files.
- Click Activate free license to start the free 30 days trial and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
Hi. Do you know how to remove this Trojan from a tablet.
. thanks. Bill
Hello,
Please follow this guide: http://malwaretips.com/blogs/your-browser-has-been-blocked-up-mac-os-x/
Stay safe!
Do you know how to get the virus off on a mac os x?!?
Dear Friend..
You blog was amazing. I was just annoyed by looking the police-cybercrime virus on my personal laptop. I was just irritated so much, because I had so many important files. I ran to the computer shop, but nothing worked out. Later I sat patiently on google and typed the virus name and tried for solution to remove.. Thats where I found your blog..I thank you from my bottom of bottom. No words to comment.. The five letter word is not sufficient, however i still like to say that.. Thanks..!!!!
Thankyou so much. Had to do Method 3 cause the first one kept rebooting after loading Safe mode and I restore didn’t work. After I found a smaller flash drive (mine was 256MB but anything 2GB or less should work) all the steps worked as expected.
Hello Selene,
The keys that are commonly associated with enabling the boot menu are F8, F11 or F12.
As soon as you power it on, look for text on the screen that tells you how to access the boot menu. This text will typically contain a key that they want you to press on your keyboard in order select the device you wish to use to boot your computer.
You can see a screen shot of various screens that show you what key to press below
I just want to say thank you for this post. I did everything you said and it worked perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
Thank you very much for posting this solution, it worked!
Thank you so much! My dad had gotten this on his computer and he was afraid my mom would kill him if she found out xD Scored me some major points, big thumbs up to you! ;)
Thanks for the help fixed the problem
Thank you so much for posting this tip, you have saved my computer. I knew that this site “police cybercrime” was a SCAM, but I had no idea how to unlock and remove this virus. You have saved the day. I’ll be using your products for now on.
THANKYOU you are a great guy worked perfectly i will definitely recommend this site to anyone with this problem
Hitman Pro was the only way to do this.
I have a full paid for enterprise virus and malware product on my PC (not freeware) and somehow it got infected. The Police virus came up even under command prompt so every “tip” on the web to remove was unable to get past it.
Using hitman pro created a flash drive and then I was able to boot past the virus and remove it. It is genuinely a free solution – there was no requirement to buy – no tricks.
I am going to purchase a €20 subscription because if this stuff can get past my current security suite I need extra help but also because I need to pay these guys for getting me out of trouble !!
Thanks so much for this!
Easy to follow, and it got rid of the virus!
FINALLY!!!! something that works!