How to remove FBI MoneyPak Ransomware

FBI MoneyPak locks user’s machine and demands ransom payment through prepaid MoneyPak Credit Card

FBI MoneyPak Ransomware is another harmful malware categorised as Ransomware family. This Ransomware operates by locking your system’s screen and shows ransom note on your system’s screen claims this message is belongs to FBI. Note that this ransomware or ransom note is no way associated in FBI. Growing malware campaign of fake FBI notice in US which turned out to be a form of ‘Ransomware’, if you are not aware, ransomware is just malware that is designed to restricts you from accessing your computer and demands ransom money for the prevention.

As mentioned, FBI MoneyPak Ransomware encrypts/locks your computer’s system means once they gain access to your computer, you will be unable navigate to any location of computer and your system’s screen will be freeze on ransom note that appeared on system’s screen. The ransom note associated with this ransomware claims you have been involved in illegal activity on your Windows computer like to downloaded/distributed copyrighted material or viewed child pornography, etc. Also, the ransom note claims you need to pay $1100 – $200 amount of ransom money penalty within 72 hours through MoneyPak Cards.

FBI MoneyPak’s ransom note also states that you will be faced jail time and prosecution by FBI if you skip the penalty payment. However, it is bogus at all and this nasty ransomware can’t be trusted. The purpose of cybercriminals behind this ransomware is to bypass your PC protection/adblocker software installed in your computer. Due to blocked security tools, they are capable to infecting/corrupting major genuine functions or applications of your computer without your knowledge.

FBI MoneyPak freezes the entire computer system and blocks you from accessing or navigating any system locations. This malware attack can cause high CPU, GPU and disk uses in computer that can degrade the overall performance of your computer. Also, they can obtains your personal or sensitive information such as IP address, URLs search, browser history, search queries, login ID & password of your various accounts, banking information and more details. In sort, this nasty malware causes severe privacy issues, financial losses or even identity theft. So, it is important to find and remove FBI MoneyPak Ransomware in computer as soon as possible.

How did you get FBI MoneyPak Ransomware in computer?

In most cases, ransomware-type malware is distributed through spam email campaign or malspam campaign. Cybercriminals or malware programmers send spam emails in mailbox which contain some false-positive messages along with malicious hyperlinks or attachments. The attachments can be Microsoft Office Documents, PDF, RAR, JavaScript or other formats of files. Once opened, it executes certain codes/scripts to infect your computer with malware or viruses. For example, Microsoft Office Documents as malicious attachments infect computer by enabling malicious macro commands.

How to protect your system against Ransomware?

You should be alert while browsing internet and avoid opening any attachments/hyperlinks presented in spam or irrelevant emails. You should check if ‘Anti-Spam Filter’ feature is enabled in your mail service you use. Some antivirus software also offers this feature and it is enabled by default. ‘Anti-Spam Filter’ feature when enabled, all spammy emails will automatically be delivered to spam folder of your mail service. Additionally, you should regular run system scan for malware or viruses with some powerful antivirus software in computer.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

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Step 1: Remove FBI MoneyPak through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete FBI MoneyPak using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove FBI MoneyPak through “Safe Mode with Networking”

For Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Boot the PC in “Safe Mode”. Click on “Start” option and continuously press on F8 during the start process until the “Windows Advanced Option” menu appears on the screen. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” from the list.

Now, a windows homescreen appears on the desktop and work-station is now working on “Safe mode with networking”.

For Windows 8 Users: Go to the “Start Screen”. In the search results select settings, type “Advanced”. In the “General PC Settings” option, choose “Advanced startup” option. Again, click on the “Restart Now” option. The work-station boots to “Advanced Startup Option Menu”. Press on “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options” button.  In the “Advanced Option Screen”, press on “Startup Settings”. Again, click on “Restart” button. The work-station will now restart in to the “Startup Setting” screen. Next is to press F5 to boot in Safe Mode in Networking.

For Windows 10 Users: Press on Windows logo and on the “Power” icon. In the newly opened menu, choose “Restart” while continuously holding “Shift” button on the keyboard. In the new open “Choose an option” window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced Options”. Select “Startup Settings” and press on “Restart”. In the next window, click on “F5” button on the key-board.

Step 2: Delete FBI MoneyPak using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with FBI MoneyPak. Open the browser and download a legitimate anti-malware tool. Do a full System scanning. Remove all the malicious detected entries.

In case if you cannot start the PC in “Safe Mode with Networking”, Try using “System Restore”

• During the “Startup”, continuously press on F8 key until the “Advanced Option” menu appears. From the list, choose “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press “Enter”

• In the new opened command prompt, enter “cd restore” and then press “Enter”.

• Type: rstrui.exe and Press “ENTER”

• Click “Next” on the new windows

• Choose any of the “Restore Points” and click on “Next”. (This step will restore the work-station to its earlier time and date prior to FBI MoneyPak infiltration in the PC.

• In the newly opened windows, press on “Yes”.

Once your PC gets restored to its previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scanning in order to remove FBI MoneyPak files if they left in the work-station.

In order to restore the each (separate) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method is effective when “System Restore Function” is enabled in the work-station.

Important Note: Some variants of FBI MoneyPak delete the “Shadow Volume Copies” as well hence this feature may not work all the time and is applicable for selective computers only.

How to Restore Individual Encrypted File:

In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to “Properties”. Select “Previous Version” tab. Select a “Restore Point” and click on “Restore” option.

In order to access the files encrypted by FBI MoneyPak, you can also try using “Shadow Explorer”. In order to get more information on this application, press here.

Important: Data Encryption Ransomware are highly dangerous and it is always better that you take precautions to avoid its attack on your work-station. It is advised to use a powerful anti-malware tool in order to get protection in real-time. With this help of “SpyHunter”, “group policy objects” are implanted in the registries in order to block harmful infections like FBI MoneyPak.

Also, In Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called “Fall Creators Update” that offer “Controlled Folder Access” feature in order to block any kind of encryption to the files. With the help of this feature, any files stored in the locations such as “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Favorites” and “Desktop” folders are safe by default.

It is very important that you install this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption. The more information on how to get this update and add an additional protection form rnasomware attack has been discussed here.

How to Recover the Files Encrypted by FBI MoneyPak?

Till now, you would have understood that what had happed to your personal files that got encrypted and how you can remove the scripts and payloads associated with FBI MoneyPak in order to protect your personal files that has not been damaged or encrypted until now. In order to retrieve the locked files, the depth information related to “System Restore” and “Shadow Volume Copies” has already been discussed earlier. However, in case if you are still unable to access the encrypted files then you can try using a data recovery tool.

Use of Data Recovery Tool

This step is for all those victims who have already tries all the above mentioned process but didn’t find any solution. Also it is important that you are able to access the PC and can install any software. The data recovery tool works on the basis of System scanning and recovery algorithm. It searches the System partitions in order to locate the original files which were deleted, corrupted or damaged by the malware. Remember that you must not re-install the Windows OS otherwise the “previous” copies will get deleted permanently. You have to clean the work-station at first and remove FBI MoneyPak infection. Leave the locked files as it is and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step1: Download the software in the work-station by clicking on the “Download” button below.

Step2: Execute the installer by clicking on downloaded files.

Step3: A license agreement page appears on the screen. Click on “Accept” to agree with its terms and use. Follow the on-screen instruction as mentioned and click on “Finish” button.

Step4: Once the installation gets completed, the program gets executed automatically. In the newly opened interface, select the file types that you want to recover and click on “Next”.

Step5: You can select the “Drives” on which you want the software to run and execute the recovery process. Next is to click on the “Scan” button.

Step6: Based on drive you select for scanning, the restore process begins. The whole process may take time depending on the volume of the selected drive and number of files. Once the process gets completed, a data explorer appears on the screen with preview of that data that is to be recovered. Select the files that you want to restore.

Step7. Next is to locate the location where you want to saver the recovered files.