My Android Tablet Has Been Hacked

[Wayne Johnson]

Good Evening to everyone on the forums tonight. I have a very unique problem,and or issue regarding my android tablet. Someone has hacked into my tablet and not only put a virus on it,but somehow they were able to lock it so that i cannot use it,which i have never encountered anything like this before. There was what i would call a crazy message on the screen that stated that i supposedly violated some sort of internet law,and it stated that it came from law enforcement,but shortly thereafter on the next screen it stated that the fine was $300.00 and that if i wanted to be able to use my tablet again,to pay this fine to the Treasure Account,and that it could be paid by moneypack/debit card,and that this card could be obtained from walgreens,and then it stated on the same screen that it would be unlocked as soon as the fine was paid,so i immediately contacted the sheriffs dept and they said that it was a scam,and that someone hacked into my tablet and put malware on it,and to take it to a computer shop,and to have the hard drive wiped clean,and to have new software put on it. My question and or issue regarding this is can i somehow do this myself,and what do i need to do to take care of this issue?and secondly where exactly is the hard drive located inside or on the tablet so i can try to either take it out,and ot try to do this manually,and or that i might be able to hook it up to another computer,and be able to download the necessary software to be able to wipe it clean? PLease if anyone can help me regarding this matter,i would appreciate it. I actually thought that since i had reported this incident to local law enforcement,that they would be able to take the tablet as evidence,and to try to see who hacked into it,and i thought that they would be able to help me regarding this matter,but i guess thats asking to much,as they told me to take it somewhere to have it taken care of. boy big help they were.

 

[leeshor]

First of all, your tablet wasn't really hacked. It was something you allowed to be installed that was malware. Not the same as hacking. The only chance you have is to do a factory reset. This thread may help you figure out how. http://www.androidtablets.net/threads/how-do-i-factory-reset-my-tablet.62022/

 

[Wayne Johnson]

Good Eveing Leeshor: I would like to let you know that i thnk that you are wrong,and or mistaken regarding your reply to my post. Someone did indeed hack into my tablet because whomever was doing this,took control of my webcamand was taking pictures of both myself,and my mother,and it stated on the screen of the tablet that our pictures have been taken,and that they have been added to the investigation,and that if i would like for my tablet to be unlocked that i would have to pay a fine,and that it could be paid by money pack,and to send the money to the Treasure Account,and that after 24 hrs my tablet would be unlocked,and that the information would be downloaded,and encrypted as part of the investigation. When i took the tablet to the local sheriffs office,they said that someone did indeed hack into my tablet,after having concluded that our pictures were taken by whomever was doing this,and that since we felt that our lives could be in danger that they would increase their patrols around our home. Sincerely Wayne.

 

[Spider]

Hello Wayne, welcome to the forum. Nice of you to become a member of Android Tablets. Your tablet has been infected with a form of malware known as ransomware. As suggested by Leeshor, your best chance of recovering the tablet is by doing a factory reset. If that doesn't work, you may find something here that could help: https://www.google.com/search?q=ran...la:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb Good luck!

BTW The most common way of getting infected by this particular type of malware is by installing a fake antivirus program or a bogus clean-up tool. Not saying you did, just a fact.

 

[Percival]

You've acquired a relatively new variant of the FBI scam virus that's been going around the PC world for a while now. Apparently the scammers have ported their work to Android. I Googled for "FBI virus scam android tablet" and found this site:

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/fbi-lock-screen-virus/

The malwaretips site is in my opinion trustworthy. It has instructions on how to remove the virus from Android phones that *might* work for tablets.

Good luck, and please let us know if it works.