SOPA, the bill that was stopped by the internet because it practically made the internet illegal, has returned. Instead of a piece of legislation, though, it’s a nasty virus that uses the bill to scare its victim. It locks down your computer and then offers to unlock it for $200–not too different from other scams we’ve seen–but it uses a whole bunch of American government seals to make it extra intimidating. It warns the victim that their IP address is on a blacklist after distributing illegal content, which is something that could actually happen by the end of the year. It tells the victim to send a MoneyPak or a Western Union wire to pay up, or they’ll lose their data. Of course, it won’t actually delete your data, but you should get it off your computer as soon as possible. It’s easy; TorrentFreak recommends that you Google “Stop online piracy Automatic protection system removal.”
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