17-year-old was greatly distressed by the message

Jan 26, 2015 08:06 GMT  ·  By

A ransomware type of scam caused a 17-year-old college student to take his own life after reading a fake email that accused him of visiting illegal websites and demanded cash in order to avoid prosecution.

The young man, named Joseph Edwards, had received a message purporting to be from the Cheshire police saying that he had been identified to browse illegal web pages and a ₤100 ($150 / €135) fine had been issued in his name.

The boy was distressed

According to the results of the police investigation, it appears that the laptop of the boy had been infected by a piece of malware that locked the device until the money was paid via Ukash, a pre-pay money transfer system that makes it difficult to identify the recipient of the funds.

Edwards was suffering from a form of autism (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and his mother said that prior to the incident her son did not seem to have any worries. She is convinced that his condition was the main factor pushing him to suicide.

“He did suffer from autism. I'm not sure he would have really understood the implications of what he was doing. He wouldn't have done anything to upset myself or his sister, not deliberately,” she told The Telegraph.

Following the incident, which occurred on August 6, 2014, a Facebook page was created to raise awareness about this type of scams, and to serve as a plea for more effort to be put into uncovering the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

Online ransomware requests should not be paid

This case is not singular. In March 2014, a 36-year-old father from the Romanian village Movila Miresii killed his four-year-old son and then took his own life as a result of police ransomware.

He took the grim decision after his browser displayed a message claiming to be from the Romanian police, informing that he had accessed adult websites and this attracted payment of a fine larger than $15,000 / €13,400. Unless the money was paid, he faced 11 years in jail, the bogus threat claimed.

Police ransomware may look like a legitimate message from authorities, as it often includes original graphics from the law enforcement organization. However, no matter how real the communication looks, recipients should not take any other action but check the computer for viruses.

Moreover, no official communication from law enforcement requires paying a fine via alternative money transfer services.