{"id":56260,"date":"2017-01-27T16:18:52","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T22:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=56260"},"modified":"2017-01-27T16:18:52","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T22:18:52","slug":"fake-ransomware-reels-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/","title":{"rendered":"“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The threat of ransomware continues to grow on a daily basis.\u00a0 Hackers are aware of this, and continue creating new ransomware variants to victimize new individuals.\u00a0 It is now clear, just the thought of being infected has become enough to pay.<\/p>\n

“Bluff”\u00a0Ransomware<\/h4>\n

Who\u00a0would’ve predicted cyber criminals would just send the ransom note, without actually infecting people?\u00a0 Apparently\u00a0this method, deemed “bluff” ransomware,\u00a0is rather successful.\u00a0 In a new study by Citrix<\/a>, they found 2 out of 3 victims of the fake ransomware, actually paid.\u00a0 Not just a few bucks either.\u00a0 The average payment was $16,000 USD\u00a0and some even doubled that!<\/p>\n

The entire concept\u00a0is centered around fear.\u00a0 The idea of losing data is enough for several companies to send thousand upon thousand of dollars to hackers.\u00a0However, Citrix reports <\/a>there is good news,<\/p>\n

“…the\u00a0vast majority of affected businesses are sharing information on \u2018bluff\u2019 ransomware attacks. Over half of large UK businesses shared that information with police forces (57 percent) and cybersecurity organizations, such as the National Cyber Security Centre<\/a> (59 percent).”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Advice Moving Forward<\/h4>\n

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again.\u00a0 Do NOT pay the ransom demands.\u00a0 Whether it’s legitimate ransomware or “bluff” ransomware, you should never pay.\u00a0 Paying only increases the cyber criminals desire to continue infecting PCs.<\/p>\n

To avoid falling victim to a legitimate ransomware attack it is encourage PC users:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Back up your data<\/li>\n
  • Implement a security solution that includes application whitelisting technology<\/li>\n
  • Keep your PC updated, including: applications, security programs and operating systems<\/li>\n
  • Stay updated on current cyber threats and red flags to identify them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The threat of ransomware continues to grow on a daily basis.\u00a0 Hackers are aware of this, and continue creating new ransomware variants to victimize new individuals.\u00a0 It is now clear, just the thought of being infected has become enough to pay. “Bluff”\u00a0Ransomware Who\u00a0would’ve predicted cyber criminals would just send the ransom note, without actually infecting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4949,5000,5090],"tags":[5157,4363],"class_list":["post-56260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ransomware","category-ransomwarewar","category-slider","tag-bluff-ransomware","tag-ransomware"],"yoast_head":"\n"Bluff" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fake ransomware, deemed "bluff" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Bluff" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fake ransomware, deemed "bluff" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\"},\"headline\":\"“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":272,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/redSkullSlider.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bluff ransomware\",\"ransomware\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ransomware\",\"RansomwareWar\",\"TechTalk Slider\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Bluff\\\" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/redSkullSlider.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Fake ransomware, deemed \\\"bluff\\\" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/redSkullSlider.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/redSkullSlider.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":550},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\",\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/kayla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Bluff\" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars","description":"Fake ransomware, deemed \"bluff\" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Bluff\" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars","og_description":"Fake ransomware, deemed \"bluff\" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":550,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kayla Elliott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kayla Elliott","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/"},"author":{"name":"Kayla Elliott","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db"},"headline":"“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars","datePublished":"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/"},"wordCount":272,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg","keywords":["bluff ransomware","ransomware"],"articleSection":["Ransomware","RansomwareWar","TechTalk Slider"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/","name":"\"Bluff\" Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-27T22:18:52+00:00","description":"Fake ransomware, deemed \"bluff\" ransomware, is now taking companies by storm. New report suggests 2 out of 3 victims ended up paying the demands...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/redSkullSlider.jpg","width":1920,"height":550},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/fake-ransomware-reels-thousands\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Bluff” Ransomware Reels in Thousands of Dollars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db","name":"Kayla Elliott","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/kayla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}