Game Card Ransomware

Game Card Ransomware Image

Although the Game Card ransomware infection uses a colorful 'Game Card' logo on its right-hand side, there is virtually nothing special about this ransomware threat that could potentially differentiate from the countless variants of the so-called Ukash Virus. This is a large family of ransomware Trojans that receive this nickname because they will often demand payment of a fine via the money transfer service Ukash (a legitimate money transfer service that is not involved in these kinds of criminal activities). For PC security researchers, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to isolate one particular source for these kinds of attacks. The criminals behind the Game Card ransomware infection and the many variants of the Ukash Virus use an affiliate model, which allows hackers to distribute their malware freely and charge fees to computers they can manage to infect. Because of this, the sources of Game Card ransomware infections are quite varied, ranging from standard social engineering attacks to delivering these Trojans bundled with other, more severe, forms of malware.

The Game Card ransomware scam is not particularly difficult to understand. Basically, the Game Card ransomware Trojan will display a threatening message which, using alarming language, will claim that the victim's computer contains pirated music files and that the victim is subject to a one-hundred Euro fine unless they want to be detained by law enforcement officials. However, this is all a lie designed to take advantage of inexperienced computer users, convincing them to hand over their money to the unscrupulous people behind this malware threat. The Game Card ransomware Trojan makes changes to the Windows Registry that forces Windows to display the Game Card ransomware message automatically as soon as it starts up. This full screen message blocks access to the victim's files, programs, and Windows components such as the Start Menu, the Task Bar, or the Task Manager.

Dealing with a Game Card Ransomware Infection

While the Trojan responsible for the Game Card ransomware infection and similar ransomware Trojans are not difficult to remove – in fact, most reliable security programs can remove these Trojans easily – the main difficulty when dealing with these kinds of threats is achieve a way to obtain access to the infected computer in the first place. Fortunately, starting up in Safe Mode can allow you to gain access to your anti-malware software. From there, removing the Game Card ransomware infection can be done automatically.