Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

What is Police Central E-Crime Unit?

The Specialist Crime Directorate Police Central E-Crime Unit message "Threat of Prosecution Reminder" is a ransomware infection originating from a family called Adneukine. This is a scam developed by cyber criminals aimed to scare unsuspecting PC users into paying a bogus fine for supposedly committing copyright law violations.

This particular variant targets computer users from the United Kingdom, however, variants are translated into other languages and adapt to the locations of PCs they infect. This ransomware virus coerces users into paying a bogus 100 Pound fine using Ukash or PaySafeCard.

For example, the same ransomware infection on a computer located in the USA would be adapted as if sent from the Internet Crime Complaint Center, demanding payment of a $500 fine in order to unlock the user's PC.

Do not pay this fine - it is fake. If you pay it, you will send your money to cyber criminals. The Police Central E-Crime Unit ransomware uses Ukash and MoneyPak for money transactions, a money transfer method used to make tracking of the criminals involved more problematic for the genuine authorities.

If you see such a message blocking your computer screen, it is a scam - no authorities or organizations use these methods to collect fines for law violations.

A variant of this ransomware virus:

The Police Central E-Crime Unit message blocks computer users' screens and should not be trusted. The United Kingdom authority has no connection with this message. If you pay this fine, you will lose your money and your PC will remain locked.

Your computer may be infected with this scam if you visit malicious websites or download video codecs from non-trusted sources. Ransomware infections often infiltrate users' systems by exploiting security vulnerabilities. To prevent these incidents, always keep your operating system and installed programs updated.

PC users should also use legitimate antispyware and antivirus programs. If your computer screen is already locked by the Police E-Crime Unit ransomware, use the removal guide provided to eliminate this scam from your PC.

A fake message displayed by the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus:

Specialist Crime Directorate.
Police Central E-Crime Unit.

Threat of Prosecution Reminder.
You have been violating Copyright and Related Rights Law (Video, Music, Software) and illegally using or distributing copyrighted content, thus infringing Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, also known as the Copyright of the Criminal Code of United States of America. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Criminal Code provides for a fine of two to five hundred minimal wages or a deprivation of liberty for two to eight years.You have been viewing or downloading prohibited Pornographic content (Child porn, Zoofilia, etc.), thus violating article 202 of the Criminal Code of the United States of America. Article 202 of the Criminal Code provides for a deprivation of liberty for four to twelve years. Pursuant to the amendment to the Criminal Code of the United Stets of America of May 28, 2011, this law infringement (if it is not repeated - first time) may be considered as conditional in case you pay the fine to the State.Fines may only be paid within 72 hours after the infringement. As soon as 72 hours elapse, the possibility to pay the fine expires, and a criminal case is initiated.

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Quick menu:

• What is Police Central E-Crime Unit?
• STEP 1. "Police Central E-Crime Unit" virus removal using safe mode with networking.
• STEP 2. "Police Central E-Crime Unit" ransomware removal using System Restore.
• STEP 3. Remove "Police Central E-Crime Unit" manually editing registry entries.

Police Central E-Crime Unit virus removal:

Step 1

Start your computer in Safe Mode. Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer starting process press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see the Windows Advanced Option menu, then select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

Video showing how to start Windows 7 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

Step 2

Log in to the account infected with Police Central E-Crime Unit ransomware. Start your Internet browser and download a legitimate anti-spyware program. Update the anti-spyware software and start a full system scan. Remove all entries detected.

If you cannot start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking, try performing a system restore.

Video showing how to remove a ransomware virus using "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" and "System Restore":

1. During your computer starting process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then select Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list and press ENTER.

2. When Command Prompt Mode loads, enter the following line: cd restore and press ENTER.

3. Next, type this line: rstrui.exe and press ENTER.

4. In the opened window, click "Next".

5. Select one of the available restore points and click "Next" (this will restore your computer system to an earlier time and date, prior to the ransomware infiltrating your PC).

6. In the opened window, click "Yes".

7. After restoring your computer to a previous date, download and scan your PC with recommended malware removal software to eliminate any remnants of Police Central E-Crime Unit ransomware.

Alternative Police Central E-Crime Unit virus removal guide:

If this ransomware blocks your screen when you start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking, try starting your PC in Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

1. During your computer starting process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then select Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list and press ENTER.

2. In the opened Command Prompt, type explorer and press Enter. This command will open the Explorer window - do not close it and continue to the next step.

3. In the Command Prompt, type regedit and press Enter. This will open the Registry Editor window.

4. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

5. In the right side of the window, locate "Shell" and right click on it. Click on Modify. The default value in the Data column is Explorer.exe - if you see something else displayed in this window, remove it and type Explorer.exe (take a note of whatever else was displayed in the Data column - this is the path of the rogue execution file). Use this information to navigate to the rogue executable and remove it.

6. Restart your computer, download and install legitimate anti-spyware software and perform a full system scan to eliminate any remnants of the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.

If you cannot start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking (or with Command Prompt), boot your computer using a rescue disk. Some variants of ransomware disable Safe Mode, making its removal more complicated. For this step, you need access to another computer.

After removing the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus from your PC, restart your computer and scan it with legitimate antispyware software to remove any possible remnants of this security infection.

Other tools known to remove the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus:

• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

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