OTTAWA, April 20 (UPI) -- Canadian officials are investigating complaints of computer users being asked for money because, they are told, their systems are linked to child pornography.
The hacking phenomenon known as "scareware" first appeared last year in Britain, but recently the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been receiving complaints from users in Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
"Over the past couple of weeks, some Islanders have received pop-up messages on their computers claiming to be from the RCMP or [the Canadian Security Intelligence Service] or the federal government of Canada, and they state that the computer is involved somehow with child pornography," Sgt. Andrew Blackadar told the broadcaster.
The pop-up seeks to get the user to pay as much as $250 through the Ukash payment system to erase the porn links, Blackadar said.
Users that did click on the link found their computer completely frozen and were unable to reboot, the report said.
The RCMP said anyone receiving such a message should immediately power their computer down. The force also recommended keeping anti-virus software up to date and turning on pop-up blockers.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is also investigating the complaints, the CBC said.
