A 21-year-old man turned himself in to police and confessed to downloading child porn after he received an FBI warning message telling him he was the subject of an investigation that actually turned out to be a scam.
Jay Matthew Riley walked into Garfield District Station in Woodbridge, William County, with his computer and asked if there were any warrants on file for him.
Scam: Jay Matthew Riley walked into Garfield District Station in Woodbridge, William County, with his computer and asked if there were any warrants on file for him.
He explained that a message popped up on his screen while he was watching child porn, ordering him to pay a fine or else he would be the subject of a criminal investigation.
But the message was actually a computer virus which has been infecting computers since early last year that the FBI actually warned about on their website.
When police searched Riley’s computer, they found inappropriate messages and photos of underage girls. One was a 13-year-old from Minnesota.
Virus: The ‘FBI warning message’ tells users they must pay a fine or they will be subject to an investigation for their illegal online activity.
They later seized several computers and other devices from his home.
He is charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, one count of using a communication device to solicit certain offenses involving children, and one count of indecent liberties with a minor.
He is being held without bond.
The virus is known as Reveton ransomware, which is designed to extort money from its victims after they click on a compromised website.
The message says the user’s Internet address was identified by the FBI as having been associated with child pornography sites or other illegal online activity.
To unlock their machines, users are required to pay a fine using a prepaid money card service. Otherwise they will be subject to investigation.
To funny… I must confess, I to got that same virus.. I freaked out when it happened.. It for sure sucked.. I had to call McAfee to get it removed cost me like $90. It wanted me to send I think like $500 in a green dot money pack to get it removed. It was obvious to me it was a virus.. It said all the same stuff that I had child pornography on my computer, and lalalalala. I wasn’t at a child porn site, actually when it showed its ugly face I was at a doing research on female… Read more »