Peel Police warning public about online extortion scam
Posted January 22, 2013 3:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Peel Police are warning the public about an online extortion scam.
A number of victims called police, saying they found their computers suddenly locked, followed by a screen telling them they have committed a crime and the only way to unlock the computer is to send $100 to a specific address.
However, in most cases where the person sent the cash, their computers remained locked.
Police said this is a malware issue, while the technological crimes unit advises every computer user to refrain from opening attachments from people you don’t know, and update the computer’s firewall and antivirus software.