CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — Computer experts say a virus that infects smartphones and locks much of their operating system until a ransom payment is made is making a comeback.
Angela Dumas, a health care worker from Carroll County, told Channel 2's Tom Regan she picked up her phone last month and a warning page, including a picture of handcuffs, appeared on the front saying her phone was locked because of criminal activity.
Dumas reached out to Regan after seeing his report on a virus that was infecting computers and asking for ransom.
"It comes up and says you have been on child pornography. Nobody's been on child pornography," said Dumas.
Dumas said she couldn't make calls from her phone, send texts, access emails or the internet. She said whoever took control of her phone made a specific demand.
"It says you got to pay $300 to clear the phone. And you got 24 hours," said Dumas
Dumas said she panicked, and because she had just started a new job, she paid the ransom demand as instructed by purchasing a money pak at Walmart that can electronically transfer funds.
A week later, scammers locked her phone again and made another demand for three hundred dollars. She refused to pay it, and her phone remains locked.
"It hurts because I don't have that kind of money," said Dumas
Regan went to Dell SecureWorks, a leading computer protection firm, to get answers on how the ransom virus infects smartphones and how to get it off.
"She installed an application that was provided by scammers. She inadvertently installed this when she went to an app store," Dell SecureWorks Intelligence Director Ken Deitz said.
Deitz told Regan that the virus may have been hidden in a common application that claimed to be Flash Player, an application that often calls for updates. But the good news is that he believes this virus can be removed.
"It looks like the version she was hit with, she could uninstall by rebooting her phone into safe mode, revoking the administrator privileges for that application and just deleting it," Deitz said.
Deitz said one way to reduce the risk of a Ransomware intrusion on your smartphone is to only download applications from trusted sites.
WSBTV
