I am completely freaking out! I clicked a link by accident and then I immediately clicked out (exited) but a page appeared saying it was from Online Agent and I had to pay $10.95 for viewing child pornography? On the top of the fake message it says ‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ Is this message real or fake? Is paying the fine really helpful to get rid of this message?
If ‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ has blocked your computer screen, that means your computer must be attacked by Online Agent Ransomware now. This is a highly dangerous virus which is known to attack Windows computers all around the world. Being as a new fake Police Trojan, it locks down one’s computer and refuses to give you access until you have paid for the fine of $10.95. But even if you pay for the fine, your computer will not be restored back to its original state because this is a scam designed by hackers who want to cheat inexperienced computer users and get their money or personal information.
Unlike the infamous FBI Ransomware or Ukash Virus which will always ask payment via prepaid card such as Moneypak, Ukash and Paysafecard, this virus requires payment via Visa or MasterCard. It claims the users must do something illegal like illegally download music or watching porn using their computer so that it is locked. And then it needs the victims to pay $10.95 to cover all the violation. Although this is just a little money for most computer users, there is no need to pay for it because paying the fine won’t help to unlock the computer screen and remove the virus but just exposes your personal details to the criminal. It also gives the hackers a great way to put additional viruses or software onto your computer.
‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ warning is absolutely frightening. It is understandable that few users may choose to pay for the fine as soon as they see such horrible message appearing on the computer. But victims should realize it is a fake message with an aim to scare innocent users and want to get money from them as much as possible. Therefore, if you have fallen into this hoax, you must contact your credit card company quickly and dispute the charge without hesitation. And the most important thing you have to do is to remove the Rasnsomware immediately and get rid of this fake warning to get your desktop back.
It will take control of your computer rapidly once it is downloaded.
It will pretend itself as a legit warning and then ask for a ransom.
It can disable your task manager and even pop up in safe mode.
It can connect to a remote IRC server and forward the data to cyber criminals without a computer user’s awareness.
It can’t be simply uninstalled or removed in control panel.
Since ‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ message has completely locked up your computer making you difficult to gain access, you will need to manually remove it instead of using antivirus programs to do so. Also, antivirus programs cannot completely catch this virus. Otherwise, it would have caught it at the beginning when this malware tries to sneak inside. Below are some basic steps on how to get rid of this virus manually. However, due to the changeable characters of this virus, you may not find the exact same files or entries to delete. That’s also why the manual removal requires expertise to do it. You will need to go through files and entries under different locations to define and delete. Any mistake could lead to unpredictable problems during the process. Thus, a backup of important files and programs is suggested before ‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ virus removal. A flash drive or external hard drive will be needed.
1. Since you cannot gain access to the infected computer under regular mode because of the Online Agent lock screen, please restart the computer and put it in Safe mode with Networking first. Here’s the guide: Restart the computer upon the locking screen and start hitting F8 key repeatedly when PC is booting up again; if successfully, Safe mode options will show up on the screen for you to select. Please use arrow keys to highlight Safe mode with Networking option and hit enter key. System will be loading files into this mode afterward.
2. Open Control Panel from Start menu and search for Folder Options. Go to Folder Options window, under View tab, tick Show hidden files and folders and non-tick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
3. Under Safe mode with Networking, please hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) keys together to pull up Windows Task Manager; go to Processes tab on top and scroll down the list to find processes associated with Online Agent scam and click End process.
4. Open Registry Editor by pressing Windows+R keys and pull up Run box and searching for regedit.
5. Find out and delete files and registry entries as below:
%Temp%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User>
C:\Users\<Current User>\AppData\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System “DisableTaskMgr” = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\random
6. Restart computer back to Regular mode and check out if the warning page still shows up again.
‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ (aka Online Agent Virus) is a group of Ransomware Trojans that display fraudulent alerts to scare innocent users. Users who get this warning locking their computers must be so paranoid into thinking the cops will come and get them and throw them in jail, especially for those who really watch porn usually. However, things won’t happen like that way because this is just a scam designed by the hackers who want to steal money and information from its victims. Criminals design such horrible message in an effort to convince users and make then believe this is a legitimate message. It misguides the people to believe paying for the fine is the only thing they can do to avoid any trouble with law. But in reality, there is no need to pay for this scam even if your IP address, location are detected and shown on the message. That is just one of the tricks by this nasty virus. It is highly recommended users not to pay the so-called ransom because the misleading warning message of ‘Attention! Online Agent has blocked your computer for security reason’ Ransomware is an online scam produced by attackers to pilfer money from trusting computer users. Once detect, an immediate removal is needed.
Note: Manual removal is a skillful and risky job, if any mistakes are made in the process, you may damage your computer immediately. If you are not sure how to do, please contact YooCare PC experts 24/7 online for help right now.
Published by & last updated on March 8, 2014 1:28 am
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