Fraud squad detectives said tens of
thousands of Australian businesses have
been targeted by the international cyber
gangsters.
Detective Inspector Bruce van der Graaf
told The Sun-Herald newspaper that crime
gangs hijack their victims’ computers and
demand thousands of dollars before they
can be used again.
The internet criminals hack their way into
a firm’s computers and deliver a virus to
encrypt all data.
They tell the firm via email they will only
release the computers once the firm
sends money via hard-to-trace cash
transfer systems such as Western Union.
Another scam is to tell people that police
discovered child abuse material on their
computer and will remove it after
payment of a fine.
The detective said many firms were
paying the ransom rather than losing days
or weeks of trade.
Some companies including a medical
centre and a school refused to pay up and
lost all their computer records.
Emails from the cyber criminals often
come in both English and Russian, leading
police to believe they are based in
eastern Europe./
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