Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus (Ransomware)

Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus (Ransomware) Image

The Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus is one of the many variants of a widespread campaign of police ransomware Trojans that have targeted computers all around the world. Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus is unique because of an anomaly in its payment system. While ESG security researchers have observed that European variants of these police ransomware Trojans demand payment using Ukash or PaySafeCard and that North American variants demand payment using MoneyPak, the Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus targets computer users located in France and demands payment using MoneyPak, which is considerably more difficult to gain access to for European computer users.

The Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus Targets French Computers with US-based Tactics

Perhaps this is an anomaly caused by careless cloning of a North American police ransomware Trojan. Another clue that supports this theory is that the Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus makes references to SOPA and PIPA, which are highly publicized law proposals in the United States that were not passed. Since these would have taken effect in the United States of America, it seems illogical that a ransomware targeting French computers would use them as part of their scam. However, logic often goes out the window when it comes to these kinds of online scams.

The Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus scam is not all that different from the many other police ransomware Trojans that have been detected in the wild in the last couple of years. The Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus takes over the victim's computer blocking access to files and windows services. When the computer user logs into the infected computer, it is impossible to access anything except the Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus's ransom message. This message, written entirely in French, alleges that the infected computer was involved in software piracy and in distributing illegally copied media files. The Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus demands the payment of a two hundred fine using the MoneyPak online payment system. ESG malware researchers strongly advise computer users to ignore the instructions contained in the Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus malicious message. This is all a scam due to the fact that this message is not associated with law enforcement in any way. Paying the fine that the Stop Online Piracy MoneyPak Virus demands from you will do nothing to unblock your computer or remove this malware infection from your machine.