Please Help - Ransomware has stolen my files and I need to pay in BitCoins

[toddball]

Hello

To say I'm a noob is an understatement.

I need your help.  My work at home computer is infected by the TeslaCrypt virus, and after trying everything I can think of I had decided to pay the bleeping ransom to get back all the work I have lost.  Except that getting my hands on some bitcoins is not that easy, apparently.

Look, I just want to pay market value from paypal or my mastercard and buy 2.5 bitcoins.  I had no idea it would be so difficult.

I signed up at localbitcoins.com because that is what was suggested by the hackers.  But nobody there will sell me 2.5 bitcoins and they want a crazy amount more than market value for them.  So instead of $550 it's going to cost more like $1000.

I can't afford that.  I'm probably going to lose my job if I can't get these files back.  It's months of work.  I'm about to fall off the wagon here, I need help.

What is the safest way for me to buy some bitcoin, quickly, to satisfy the demands of this hacker?

Can I buy them anywhere that accepts credit cards and will that "address" work for ransom demander?

Please help me

Thanks

TB

[achow101_alt]

First of all, you should never pay a ransom. The hackers likely won't decrypt anything after they receive the ransom. Instead, if you have a backup restore the backup. Since the computer is for work, your company should have backups that they can restore. Ask your company's IT department if they can help you.

If you want to buy bitcoin, most places will not accept paypal or credit card. This is because these can have chargebacks and exchanges have the possibility to be scammed. You can instead link your bank account to exchanges to buy bitcoin.

Lastly, since you are a new user, most exchanges will not let you buy large amounts of bitcoin. Instead of buying bitcoin to pay the ransom, you should have your company check it out and see if they can restore a backup and fix it.

[hedgy73]

I don't know where you can buy bitcoins with credit cards I'm sorry. Think its because they can be charged back.

I'm no expert but cant you take the hard drive out and put it in another pc or connect it to another pc to access the files you need? I have these bloody thieving scumbags infecting peoples equipment with viruses then holding them tom ransom. It makes my blood boil.

[padrino]

Hello

To say I'm a noob is an understatement.

I need your help.  My work at home computer is infected by the TeslaCrypt virus, and after trying everything I can think of I had decided to pay the bleeping ransom to get back all the work I have lost.  Except that getting my hands on some bitcoins is not that easy, apparently.

Look, I just want to pay market value from paypal or my mastercard and buy 2.5 bitcoins.  I had no idea it would be so difficult.

I signed up at localbitcoins.com because that is what was suggested by the hackers.  But nobody there will sell me 2.5 bitcoins and they want a crazy amount more than market value for them.  So instead of $550 it's going to cost more like $1000.

I can't afford that.  I'm probably going to lose my job if I can't get these files back.  It's months of work.  I'm about to fall off the wagon here, I need help.

What is the safest way for me to buy some bitcoin, quickly, to satisfy the demands of this hacker?

Can I buy them anywhere that accepts credit cards and will that "address" work for ransom demander?

Please help me

Thanks

TB

Personally I would not pay the ransom, I assume given it's your professional files they are backed up somewhere so worst case you loose only some work.

Localbitcoins is a premium but just present yourself as a buyer and don't get into the reason you want 2.5 BTC and you will get it for maybe 15-20% over market price worst case, things are not nearly as bad as you state.

[padrino]

I don't know where you can buy bitcoins with credit cards I'm sorry. Think its because they can be charged back.

I'm no expert but cant you take the hard drive out and put it in another pc or connect it to another pc to access the files you need? I have these bloody thieving scumbags infecting peoples equipment with viruses then holding them tom ransom. It makes my blood boil.

DO NOT do that unless you know exactly how to access, even then it will be encrypted so it's not going to take care of it..

[hedgy73]

I don't know where you can buy bitcoins with credit cards I'm sorry. Think its because they can be charged back.

I'm no expert but cant you take the hard drive out and put it in another pc or connect it to another pc to access the files you need? I have these bloody thieving scumbags infecting peoples equipment with viruses then holding them tom ransom. It makes my blood boil.

DO NOT do that unless you know exactly how to access, even then it will be encrypted so it's not going to take care of it..

Ah ok just a thought. I did say I'm no expert .

[cr1776]

Hello

To say I'm a noob is an understatement.

I need your help.  My work at home computer is infected by the TeslaCrypt virus, and after trying everything I can think of I had decided to pay the bleeping ransom to get back all the work I have lost.  Except that getting my hands on some bitcoins is not that easy, apparently.

Look, I just want to pay market value from paypal or my mastercard and buy 2.5 bitcoins.  I had no idea it would be so difficult.

I signed up at localbitcoins.com because that is what was suggested by the hackers.  But nobody there will sell me 2.5 bitcoins and they want a crazy amount more than market value for them.  So instead of $550 it's going to cost more like $1000.

I can't afford that.  I'm probably going to lose my job if I can't get these files back.  It's months of work.  I'm about to fall off the wagon here, I need help.

What is the safest way for me to buy some bitcoin, quickly, to satisfy the demands of this hacker?

Can I buy them anywhere that accepts credit cards and will that "address" work for ransom demander?

Please help me

Thanks

TB

If you don't have a backup, you are taking a risk that they won't decrypt it.  But if that is your only option, then it is worth a try.

However, you can try coinbase.com and buy coins there. It depends on your location though. They are not available everywhere.  I am not sure if they do credit cards or only bank accounts though.

[achow101_alt]

I highly doubt the attackers will decrypt any files. It would be better if you could restore a backup.

Either way, you should install an antivirus and always backup your files.

[DannyHamilton]

Hello

To say I'm a noob is an understatement.

I need your help.  My work at home computer is infected by the TeslaCrypt virus, and after trying everything I can think of I had decided to pay the bleeping ransom to get back all the work I have lost.  Except that getting my hands on some bitcoins is not that easy, apparently.

Look, I just want to pay market value from paypal or my mastercard and buy 2.5 bitcoins.  I had no idea it would be so difficult.

I signed up at localbitcoins.com because that is what was suggested by the hackers.  But nobody there will sell me 2.5 bitcoins and they want a crazy amount more than market value for them.  So instead of $550 it's going to cost more like $1000.

I can't afford that.  I'm probably going to lose my job if I can't get these files back.  It's months of work.  I'm about to fall off the wagon here, I need help.

What is the safest way for me to buy some bitcoin, quickly, to satisfy the demands of this hacker?

Can I buy them anywhere that accepts credit cards and will that "address" work for ransom demander?

Please help me

Thanks

TB

Where are you located?

I may be able to help you acquire the bitcoins you need at a fair and reasonable price.

Send me a message if you'd like my help.

[redsn0w]

When you will have the bitcoins (also through cash) I suggest you to try a double spend transaction, but I do not know if it will work at 100%. Try to check this section 'https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0' maybe you will find someone who will sell you some bitcoins.

[pedrog]

Check here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_To_Buy_Bitcoins_With_Your_Credit_Card

Also https://bit-x.com/

Check these links, you may be able to decrypt your files.

https://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/disinfection/8005

https://noransom.kaspersky.com/

https://blog.kaspersky.com/coinvault-ransomware-removal-instruction/


Hope now you understand how important backups are.

[toddball]

Howdy

Thanks for all the replies

I've been an independent consultant till this past week.  As such, I was not on the company network except to access a CAD vault thru VPN.  I do understand the importance of backups, I didn't state it at the time but I have a 4TB seagate drive that I thought was configured to do continuous backups.  It says as much, yet the last backup was from before the new year.  I have been scrambling on this project and just didn't verify that it was happening.

So yeah, now I do understand the importance of vigilance.  I don't do shady on the internet for this exact reason.

Anyways, I don't have backups of nearly any sort.  So it really is that bad.

I hear what all of you are saying, and otherwise I would not consider doing this AT ALL.  I do not want to encourage this kind of virtual extortion either, but I don't have much choice.

I've read more opinions that you'll never get your data back, and see that in a dozen articles but I have found more personal accounts of recovery than not.  Even some cop shop in Maine paid for their data back.

I was able to test it out with their "one free test" thing and I did get back one of my important files.

My antivirus seemed to stop their desktop highjacking so I never saw the popup window that says how long you have been infected but I think it's going on 48 hours.

Thanks again and I'll look thru these replies a little closer.

TB

[toddball]

I highly doubt the attackers will decrypt any files. It would be better if you could restore a backup.

Either way, you should install an antivirus and always backup your files.

Had company anti-virus installed as well as a back up drive.

For some reason my computer last checked into the server for AV updates one month ago.  As I said earlier, my continuous backup I thought was happening wasn't.  Nice concept in theory, but apparently not worth a wooden nickel.

I may have already stated that I did in fact get back a single important file, and I have read that many people have gotten their files back once they paid ransom.

Is it a risk?  Yes.  But it's only money, and I'd gladly lose it for a chance not to recreate weeks of work.

This won't be happening to me again I assure you.  At least not without backups of backups in place.

Regards,

TB

[toddball]

pedrog, thanks for the links.

Seems my version of the cryptolocker virus is still not old enough to have a utility to decrypt the files.  One word of sage advice I found, was to make sure to keep a copy of the encrypted files, so that when/if a fix is available in the future you can run it and get your files back if for some reason paying the ransom doesn't work.

That won't help me, I'm afraid as I can't wait around for this particular data....

Now, I'm hoping you all can clear up something for me.

Does it matter what "service" I use to buy my bitcoins?  Certain ones are only available in certain locales, like "Trucoin" for example is available to buy bitcoin on credit in the US, but will I be able to use those bitcoins to pay the ransom if "Trucoin" is not available whereever this kidnapper lives?

Help me fill in these blanks, I don't understand and since they are not refundable I do not want to end up with $700 I can't use to pay the ransom.

Thanks again to all.

TB

[achow101_alt]

pedrog, thanks for the links.

Seems my version of the cryptolocker virus is still not old enough to have a utility to decrypt the files.  One word of sage advice I found, was to make sure to keep a copy of the encrypted files, so that when/if a fix is available in the future you can run it and get your files back if for some reason paying the ransom doesn't work.

That won't help me, I'm afraid as I can't wait around for this particular data....

Now, I'm hoping you all can clear up something for me.

Does it matter what "service" I use to buy my bitcoins?  Certain ones are only available in certain locales, like "Trucoin" for example is available to buy bitcoin on credit in the US, but will I be able to use those bitcoins to pay the ransom if "Trucoin" is not available whereever this kidnapper lives?

Help me fill in these blanks, I don't understand and since they are not refundable I do not want to end up with $700 I can't use to pay the ransom.

Thanks again to all.

TB

It doesn't matter where you get bitcoins, they are not limited to locales. As long as you have them, you can pay the ransom to the attackers.

[DannyHamilton]

It doesn't matter where you get bitcoins, they are not limited to locales. As long as you have them, you can pay the ransom to the attackers.

Be very careful though.

There are scammers and thieves that take advantage of your sense of urgency and your lack of experience. There are many places on the internet that will promise that you'll get bitcoins in exchange for payment, and then after you send payment they'll just disappear without ever ending you any bitcoins.

Make sure that wherever you are getting the bitcoins from is a reliable source.

[cr1776]

A lot does depend on where you are.  Converse is good and legit, but not everywhere.  They are in the US, EU etc.

[ranochigo]

When you will have the bitcoins (also through cash) I suggest you to try a double spend transaction, but I do not know if it will work at 100%. Try to check this section 'https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0' maybe you will find someone who will sell you some bitcoins.

It is very hard to attempt a double spend attack which will give you confirmation. Any hacker would want their ransom to have confirmations though.

Shvdb has a service which allows exchange of paypal to BTC if you have PayPal. The process was abit complicated but at least it protects the seller.

[toddball]

It doesn't matter where you get bitcoins, they are not limited to locales. As long as you have them, you can pay the ransom to the attackers.

Be very careful though.

There are scammers and thieves that take advantage of your sense of urgency and your lack of experience. There are many places on the internet that will promise that you'll get bitcoins in exchange for payment, and then after you send payment they'll just disappear without ever ending you any bitcoins.

Make sure that wherever you are getting the bitcoins from is a reliable source.

Again, thanks to all.  You guys have been very helpful.

Good to know that they can be bought anywhere and be spent.

[notlist3d]

It doesn't matter where you get bitcoins, they are not limited to locales. As long as you have them, you can pay the ransom to the attackers.

Be very careful though.

There are scammers and thieves that take advantage of your sense of urgency and your lack of experience. There are many places on the internet that will promise that you'll get bitcoins in exchange for payment, and then after you send payment they'll just disappear without ever ending you any bitcoins.

Make sure that wherever you are getting the bitcoins from is a reliable source.

Again, thanks to all.  You guys have been very helpful.

Good to know that they can be bought anywhere and be spent.

Danny has some of the best advice make sure not to accept help through teamviewer or other from a low trust source.  People will pry on your situation.

My advice is try to see if you can get into safemode.  Assuming you can get into safe mode then look at processes running, anything looks funny stop the process. 

After try malwarebytes and your favorite anti-virus.    Hopefully in safe mode you can get all of it gone on the virus.  Also think of updating virus protection or switching if it allowed you to get this virus.