A hapless victim has reportedly forked out a whopping BTC 22 – worth over USD 263,000 – to DoppelPaymer ransomware scammers, per data published by tracking website ScamAlert.
Earlier this year, antivirus software developer Avast warned that there had been a recent resurgence in scammers making use of the notorious ransomware.
Like other, similar malware, DoppelPaymer locks the victim’s hard drives, encrypts them, and demands that ransoms be paid in crypto.
Avast stated that DoppelPaymer users incorporate virus-themed email subject lines to “attract victims.”
The company added,
“When it comes to forking over a quarter of a million USD or reformatting my computer, I am pretty sure I’d be inclined to choose the latter. I can’t think of what any files valuable enough to be willing to make that exchange, could even be.”
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