Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware

Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware may shock you at first sight as this screen locker tries to frighten you with its ransom note posing as an FBI warning. This warning is full screen on top of all your active windows and without the possibility of closing. Obviously, if you are not an experienced computer user, you could easily fall for this trick and believe that you may have done something wrong for “the Bureau” to lock your computer down. All the listed reasons on this screen locker are, of course, made up to make you believe in the severity of this warning. You have to pay a certain amount of money in order for your computer to be unlocked. This malicious threat does not encrypt your files so you can and you should remove Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware the moment you see this frightening screen. Please continue reading our article to learn more about this malware infection and to see how you can eliminate it without leaving leftovers on your system.

You can easily infect your computer with this malicious program if you open a spam e-mail and download its attachment to view it. Unfortunately, your spam filter cannot weed out dangerous spam mails like this one with 100% certainty. In fact, you may have noticed that quite often even important legitimate e-mails may end up in your spam folder. These criminals may count on this and that is why they try to convince you with possibly relating subject matters, such as unpaid invoices or fines, credit card details wrongly given why shopping online, hotel room booking gone wrong, and so on. Even if you do not think that this has anything to do with you since you do not recall booking any hotels, you would probably want to see what the mail is about to clear the air. However, this mail contains an attachment that is supposed to hold the key to this alleged matter. Once you click to open this malicious attached file, you initiate this attack and your screen will get locked. Fortunately, we are here to tell you how you can delete Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware without causing any further issues.

It is also possible that you let this malicious program onto your machine by clicking on fake software updaters or downloaders. This can happen when your system is infected with malware like adware or when you are visiting shady websites generally associated with file sharing, gaming, gambling, or porn. You should never take such third-party pop-ups or banners for granted that offer you the installation of any software. Remember that no website can actually have that kind of information unless they spy on you without your knowledge. We recommend that you only use official and reputable sites for downloading programs and updates if you want to be on the safe side. As for this current attack, we suggest that you remove Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware as soon as possible because without that you cannot use your PC at all.

Unlike most ransomware programs, this infection belongs to the so-called screen locker category because it does not actually encrypt your files for the ransom fee. Instead, you are led to believe that your computer has been locked by the FBI Department of Justice because of all kinds of scary reasons, including downloading child porn, committing rape, sending spam messages containing terrorist motives, and so on. Obviously, none of these are actually true; well, hopefully. What we mean is that these cyber criminals use the fear factor to extort money from mostly innocent victims. A lot of inexperienced users would not know how to close such a full-screen window and seeing the FBI badge they may even think that this is all for real and would not dare to close this screen locker even if they knew how to. But let us reassure you that this is just a malicious attack that wants your money.

You are told to transfer 150 US dollars worth of Bitcoins, which is around 0.04 BTC at current exchange rate, to a Bitcoin address provided in this warning. Once you are done, you have to write an e-mail with the personal ID shown at the bottom of the screen locker and send it to “fbifine@protonmail.com.” Then, you are supposed to get a reply with the unlock key that you can insert in this screen and supposedly unlock your computer. However, we do not believe that these criminals would care at all to unlock your computer once they get the money. In fact, it is more likely that you will simply lose your money for nothing. But we are here to assure you that we can help you remove Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware in a few minutes.

Before you could delete all the related files, first you need to kill the malicious progress in your Task Manager since you cannot close this window simply clicking the usual “X” close button that is not there in this case. We have prepared the necessary instructions for you, which you can find below. If you do not want to get your hands “dirty” and would like to use an automated tool, we recommend that you install a reliable malware removal application like SpyHunter. Of course, it is also essential that you remember to update your programs and drivers regularly to lower your vulnerability to cyber attacks.

How to remove Scotch Tape Locker Ransomware from Windows

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch the Task Manager.
2. Find the malicious process in the list called “FBI”.
3. Right-click on this process and choose Properties.
4. Check the Location field and remember it to be able to identify the malicious program.
5. Press OK or Cancel.
6. Press End task to kill this malicious process.
7. Exit your Task Manager.
8. Press Win+E.
9. Open the Location you found in Task Manager and delete the malicious program (could be a random name).
10. Delete all recently downloaded suspicious programs.
11. Empty your Recycle Bin.
12. Restart your PC.