I have a lock screen by the Police Department University of California message on my Windows computer. It says I must pay a fee of 200$ to release my computer screen and avoid other legal consequences. After looking online I realized that this is actually a scam virus. Lucky for me, I have not entered the payment out of scare. But I can’t unlock my PC from the Police Department ransomware screen. It always reappears every time I restart the computer. What do I do to get my Windows unlocked from this scam warning?
Police Department University of California Virus Locked Computer – How to Unlock?
The Police Department University of California pop up is a newly released variant of the MoneyPack virus that is designed to scam innocent computer users. By displaying a lock screen on your computer and accusing you of violating certain laws or regulations due to some of your online activities, the Police Department lock page is trying to get as many computer users to pay the 200$ fine as possible to unlock their computer screens. This is reported to be a huge cyber scam that has attacked computer users (including Windows and Mac OS) around the world in various appearances with different amount of fines/currencies. Many users would be scammed by such fake police warning message out of scare. We believe paying 200$ fine via GreenDot MoneyPack will not unlock your computer screen from this fake Police Dept. University of California lock page but will only help benefit unknown hackers on the internet. To unlock PC successfully from this lock page, we need to get rid of the ransomware program from computer.
The fake Police Department University of California lock can be put onto your computer in a bundle with the freeware you download from unauthorized resources online. Its install does not need permission from users and can escape from many anti-malware protections. Usually, users of the computers will be accused of violating laws online mostly because they have watched or distributed pornography content. No matter how legit the block screen looks, you don’t really need to believe what it says since it’s a virus program. Windows OS is a major target of this computer ransomware while Mac OS is currently found to be affected frequently as well. But for Mac users, they still have access to the system as the fake police message only pops up on a browser tab. Safari and Google Chrome are the two most popular browsers that can be affected by this ransomware on Mac books. No matter which operating systems you are running on, do not trust this fake police pop up when getting the Police Department lock. This passage contains an unlock guide to help you get out of this lock page on your computers/browsers.
How to remove Police Department University of California virus lock to unlock computer?
Users will be required to “pay a release fee of 200$” via GreenDot MoneyPack within 72 hours. If the time has passed and you haven’t been able to enter the payment, “the possibility of unlocking your computer expires”. You are also scared to be troubled by other legal consequences. Apparently, this fake police warning is really trying to trick you into paying 200$ to get your computer unlocked. But you don’t need to do that after realizing that it’s a scam. To unlock computer from fake Police Department lock ransomware, compared to anti-virus removal which is found to be inefficient, manual removal is suggested which usually guarantees a complete removal. A manual removal guide will be provided in this passage for help. Only advanced computer users are suggested to follow the instructions as any mistake during the process can cause unpredictable system problems.
Suggestions: If you are not a computer literate and don’t have sufficient computer knowledge, contact YooCare/YooSecurity online PC experts for help now to get this problem solved safely and completely:
“Your Computer has been locked” FBI Anti-Piracy Warning Screenshot
* “Attention! Your computer has been blocked up for safety reasons listed below.” message by the Police Department University of California virus is fake. It can pop up right after your computer is started to block you from accessing the system. The virus program can even turn on your webcam automatically telling you that it’s recording your activities. You need to enter the Moneypack code to pay the $200 fine in order to get your computer unlocked. This pop-up blocked screen is 100% fake and users can unblock computers manually without paying the fine.
Will my computer be unlocked if I pay the fine:
A fine of 200$ is required by this fake police block through GreenGot MoneyPack within 72 hours. It says “After successful payment, your computer will automatically unlock” which is not trusted. Users are often left with this unwanted lock page even after they have paid. But exceptions do exist and computer will be unlocked. However, paying this 200$ fine WILL NOT completely unlock your computer from the ransomware. That is to say, the virus may still reside on your computer waiting for another chance to pop up and block you again. Hence, it is a wise choice to unlock computer by manually removing the fake Police Department ransomware block instead of paying $200 fine via GreenDot MoneyPack.
What will happen if the fine is failed to enter:
Will it automatically unlock? Am I still charged illegally if I throw away the computer? Some users also wonder whether or not they will be arrested if they refuse to pay the fine. All of these doubts can be ignored as the pop up is not real. There is a limit of time (in this case 72 hours) set for users to enter the payment. If the time elapses, you are told that you will never be able to unlock your computer and further criminal cases can also be initiated against you automatically. However, they are not true as the virus is bluffing to get you to pay the 200$ Moneypak fine. To unlock computer from the ransomware block, manually eliminate the ransomware completely on your computer.
A Manual Removal Instruction to Unlock Your Computer/Browser
This passage below provides a manual removal guide on how to unlock computer from Police Department University of California virus popup page. Expertise will be required during the process because files and registry values can be renamed by the virus differently on different computers:
Step 1: Try to unplug the Internet cable then restart your computer normally. After you can see the desktop, plug in the cable again. If the virus page doesn’t pop up, you can continue from step 3. (If it’s wireless connection, turn off/on instead of plugging in/out the Internet cable)
Step 2: Restart your computer in safe mode with networking. To do this, please keep pressing F8 key before windows launches until you get to this screen shown as below: (Click here if you have a Windows 8 computer)
Step 3: Press Ctrl+Alt+Del keys to open the Task manager to stop the progress of the Virus. Names of process will be displayed differently with random letters:
Step 4: Delete all the files of fake Police Department University of California virus scam:
Log in to profile in which you are getting the ransomware pop-up page
Go to my computer
Then press ALT button once
Go to tools on menu bar
Then select Folder options…
Click on view tab
Select Show hidden files, folders, and drives
Click OK button
Click on Start button
Enter: regedit in Run box to open Registry Editor
Go to C:\Users\profile name here\AppData\-
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\-
* If you have a Mac book machine and Safari or Google Chrome is blocked by the Police Department University of California malware page:
Safari and Google Chrome are the two most popular browsers that will get blocked on Mac book pro. To exit out the virus page, please click on the Search icon (which looks like a magnifier) on top right corner of Safari browser, type in: Safari to re-open the browser without this unwanted block page, then start live chat with online PC experts to get help instantly.
Similar video guide to remove fake police warning malware:
In Conclusion: The Police Department University of California lock page you have got is a scam which is designed and released by computer hackers to scam innocent computer users because users are required to pay 200$ fine to get their computers unlocked. When getting this pop up on computer, you may not be able to access the system at all. Many users will pay out of scare because legal consequences are involved. But paying the requested amount of fine will not help you unlock your computer. To get your computer unlocked, we suggest a manual removal to completely get rid of the ransomware program from the system. Instructions are given online but they may not match with concrete situation as the virus program is changing all the time. If you ever get lost in removing the fake Police Department ransomware pop up, get help from experts right away to avoid further problems.
Note: Have spent hours trying to unlock computer from this unwanted Police Department virus pop up with no progress? To avoid further troubles, please contact YooCare/YooSecurity experts 24/7 online in time for instant help:
Published by Tony Shepherd & last updated on March 9, 2014 2:13 am
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