I have afp scam virus on my Samsung galaxy tab2! It says my tab is blocked for safely reason and demands $ 100 to unlock. I swear that I didn’t use my tab to spread anything illegal and do anything violating the law. Did someone hack my tab and use it to spread pornography or spam? Last year, one of my friends received a message that his computer had been hacked and used to spread viruses. After 3 days, the police came to his house and took him to jail. He hadn’t done anything to violate laws, but he was punished by the police. I am so scared when facing problem with the police. Should I pay money to unlock my tab and avoid punishment? I don’t want go to jail. I have no idea how my tab got trouble with afp. I was looking for a birthday gift for my fiancée. Suddenly, an ad popped up. I thought it is legit and clicked on it, but I was wrong. After that, my screen went black and this afp warning took over my tab immediately. I tried to restart it, but it would not go away. I am desperate. Can you help me out?
AFP scam virus is classified as a type of ransomware which tries to scam people for money in the name of American Federation of Police (AFP). Mobile devices like phones and tablets are widely used nowadays. People use them to kill time and do shopping online. However, more and more devices have been hacked. In order to get more money, the cyber criminals create various viruses and malware to attack mobile devices for illegal money. After AFP scam virus sneaks into your device, it displays a bogus notification that pretends to be from the American Federation of Police demanding non-existed fine. It states that your mobile device has been blocked due to it being involved with the distribution of pornographic material, SPAM and copyrighted content. Do not be fooled by it. Its owner is not AFP but the hackers. It is a tool of the criminals to grab money. Do not ever follow its guide to pay money. According to our customers, they paid the so-called fine after receiving this fake message while their devices are still blocked. They lost their money for nothing. Therefore, stop trying to pay ransom to the hackers. What you need to do is removing this AFP scam virus out of your device right now.
AFP scam virus is distributed through several means. In the first place, the criminals would like to place it on malicious websites, or legitimate websites that have been hacked. It is a fact that many people got virus from porn websites and other similar websites. When people visit those websites or download porn, virus may pops up and locks your device. In the second place, virus can be attached to spam. This kind of spam may contain links to malicious websites or attachment with virus program. To persuade you click on the link or download attachment, it says you fail to make payment on Ebay, Amazon and other famous shopping websites. Sometimes, you just can not resist your curiosity and click on it. In this way, you fall in the criminals’ trap and bring virus on your device. In the third place, fake notification may tell you that you need to update your Adobe Flash Player or another piece of software and provide a link to download. We do not suggest you trust this kind of notification as the virus can disguise itself as a piece of useful software to trick you into downloading it. If you want to update your software, you can go to its official websites to download one.
AFP scam virus utilizes social engineering and tries to persuade unsuspecting victims into paying an unnecessary fine. It makes fraudulent claims with AFP logo on the browser-lock or screen-lock to make it look genuine. After being installed on your device, it hijacks your browser app, such as Internet App, Google Chrome and Google App etc and redirects you to fake law enforcement website asking for payment for alleged illegal actions performed. It will not go away though you quit the browser app and restart your device. Sometimes, this virus can be more aggressive. It locks you out of your device. You only have few seconds and can’t do anything before it takes over. It states, “To unlock your device and avoid punishment, a certain amount of ransom is required”. The ransom arranges from $ 100 to $ 500 which you must pay via the prepaid money card services like MoneyPak, Ukash or Paysafecard within 48 hours. After receiving this message, you need to calm down and do not pay ransom as it is a scam. In fact, this message is not from AFP. It is the criminal who uses copied law enforcement graphics to trick you. You do not have obligation to pay any fine and the police will not come to arrest you. Just ignore this message and figure out a way to remove this AFP scam virus.
Step 1: Please try to put the infected android phone into Safe Mode at first to unlock the screen temporarily from AFP scam virus
(1). For various android phones: hold down the power button to bring out the menu with Power Off and Reboot option—-hold down the Power Off option (If nothing happens, please tap and hold the Reboot option instead)—-click OK on the pop-up box asking if you want to access safe mode
(2). For Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy S5: power off the device—-turn on and tab the soft-touch Menu button repeatedly
(3). For Samsung Galaxy S3 and other phones with similar customized android system: power off the device—-turn on and hold down the Volume Down button (try Volume Up or Volume Down and Volume Up together if Volume Down does not work) when the brand logo shows up
You will see “Safe mode” at the lower left corner of the screen if you access safe mode successfully
Step 2: Search and remove suspicious files which are related to the virus
Step 3: Reboot the device to get out of safe mode
As we all know, this AFP scam virus is kind of powerful which can block various devices, such as Samsung, HTC, LG, ZTE, Huawei phone/tablet and other android devices. It is trying to swindle money out of innocent mobile users under the control of the remote hackers. No one knows whether it will download more malware to further damage your device for bank card information and money if it has enough time on your device. After all, the cyber criminals would spare no effort to grab money. Therefore, we kindly suggest you get rid of this AFP scam virus as soon as possible. Take action to stop it right now. To keep your device from dangerous virus, be caution when dealing with unknown online program in the future!
Published by & last updated on May 9, 2016 4:58 am
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