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Money (4)
Your money or your documents: how hackers can hold your files to ransom
By Chris Hall | Yahoo News – Tue, Nov 19, 2013
Yahoo News - The Cryptolocker software locks users out of their files, and asks for payment in return for the key - which is unlikely to be delivered. (Symantec)
Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) has issued a warning to businesses over a wave of hacking attacks that have seen hackers take control of computer files and demand a £900 ransom to unlock each one.
The attackers use spam emails to target small and medium-sized businesses, with attachments that look like invoices, voicemails or other business documents.
An example of a Cryptolocker-infected email, with malware attachment, as found by Symantec
The NCA says that 'tens of millions' of people may have been targeted in Britain, and noted that the attacks seemed to be aimed predominantly at companies. It described the attacks as a 'significant risk'.
The attachments contain a piece of malware called Cryptolocker - an automated piece of ransom software that, if activated, will search for documents and encrypt them so that they cannot be opened or read by the user.
Microsoft Office documents were the most commonly affected, but different variations of the malware also searched for other documents, such as .pdf files.
Cryptolocker then prompts the owner of the files to pay two Bitcoins (each worth £449 as of 19/11/13) for the key to unlock the files.
Bitcoins are a private and anonymous digital currency that can be traded against other major world currencies. The exchange rate can fluctuate wildly.
Ransomware has been on the rise since last year. A report from Symantec Internet Security noted that for a much cheaper ransom, of 5,300 computers infected, 'About three percent of victims paid the ransom, which netted the criminals about $30,000.'
The NCA said in its statement that it 'would never endorse the payment of a ransom to criminals and there is no guarantee that they would honour the payments in any event'.
Lee Miles, Deputy Head of the NCCU says "The NCA are actively pursuing organised crime groups committing this type of crime. We are working in cooperation with industry and international partners to identify and bring to justice those responsible and reduce the risk to the public."
The malware should be detected by up to date antivirus software. Users should exercise caution over opening unfamiliar attachments. Some of the attachments are notable for having a double file extension, such as " FORM_101513.pdf.exe."
Decrypting files that Cryptolocker has been able to encrypt is 'not feasible', according to Symantec. But there are ways that affected users can recover their files even if they have been locked out, using free Windows tools.
If you have made backups of your files, Windows Backup will be able to revert the file to its pre-locked state. Similarly, you can right-click on a file before opening it and choose to open a previous version, giving you the chance to retrieve data from the file.
If your computer does become infected, you should disconnect it from your network, and run a full antivirus scan to identify and quarantine the affected files.
A spokesman for Symantec said: 'Symantec does detect and protect against this threat. We continuously work to protect customers against this threat through various technologies, including the Symantec Email Security.cloud solution.'
How to get your money back after a scam
If you have been scammed, you haven't received goods you ordered, or a product isn't as it was described to you, you could easily get your money back.
By Neil Faulkner | lovemoney.com – Thu, May 10, 2012
Lost money to a scam? Getting it back could be easier than you think (Image © Fotolia)
The police and Financial Services Authority admit that they're usually powerless to get your money back after you've been scammed. However, there's a way to do so yourself in many cases, and with relative ease.
If you make any purchases of between £100 and £30,000 and pay for it, or even just part of it, using your credit card, your card provider should pay you back for the entire loss in the event of scam.
It isn't just obliged to do this for scams either. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act ensures that the card provider must reimburse you if a retailer doesn't deliver the goods or service, or if the product is not as described.
How customers are getting their money back
Credit card companies don't always agree when a customer makes a section 75 request to be reimbursed. Often, customers then complain to the free Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). It's these borderline cases that give us the most insight into when and where this legal right can be used.
The Ombudsman has just published some recent examples of its decisions relating to section 75. Here are some of the customers who succeeded in getting their money back.
Broken promises
Mrs S paid £3,500 for a holiday club on her credit card on the assurance that she would get the whole membership fee back after five years. On receiving the paperwork, however, she realised she'd been tricked.
She complained to the FOS when her lender didn't believe her “recollection of events”. The FOS found public accounts of others taking legal action against the holiday club, so it considered there to be enough evidence and justification for the card provider to reimburse Mrs S, and ordered it to do so.
Ill-fitting suits
Mr C paid £800 for a tailor-made suit on his credit card. When the finished suit was delivered to him, it didn't fit properly. He asked the tailors to make alterations, but they didn't show up for the appointment and Mr C had no luck when he complained further.
The lender refused to reimburse Mr C, but the FOS saw evidence from both sides, including photos of Mr C wearing the badly fitting suit. It decided that Mr C had done everything he could to get the tailors to correct their mistakes, and so it ordered the lender to reimburse him.
Paying a deposit below the £100 limit
Miss N paid a £99 deposit on her credit card for a £1,000 sofa but, before delivery, the retailer went out of business. Her lender refused to compensate her under section 75, saying she had spent less than £100, so she complained to the FOS.
Although Miss N had only lost £99, the purchase price was £1,000, which means she is covered by section 75. The FOS ordered the card provider to reimburse Miss N.
Make sure you understand section 75
Not everyone is successful when they claim under section 75, even if they take a complaint to the FOS. Indeed, Phillipa Cook, spokeswoman for the Ombudsman, told me that probably a little under half of the section 75 complaints the Ombudsman hears are successful.
We can learn from other customers' mistakes.
Paying a deposit below the £30,000 limit
Mrs T used her credit card to pay a deposit of £3,000 to a building company for an overseas property that was going to cost £162,000. The property was never completed and the building company didn't return her calls. Her lender refused to reimburse her and she complained to the FOS.
Unfortunately, it's not the size of the deposit that counts for section 75, but the value of the entire purchase. Since that was over the £30,000 limit, the FOS rejected Mrs T's complaint.
Changing your mind
Mr W joined a holiday club, but later changed his mind when he realised he could pay less by shopping around for holidays by himself. He asked his card provider to reimburse him. When it refused, he complained to the FOS.
The FOS decided that the holiday club had not given false or misleading information to Mr W, nor had it breached the contract. Finding that there are better deals elsewhere is not grounds for section 75, so it rejected Mr W's complaint.
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