How to remove Scorpio ransomware virus

Scorpio ransomware is yet another malicious program used by extortionists

Scorpio ransomware^[1] is a new version of Scarab virus, and its main purpose is to encrypt files on victim’s computer to get a ransom. The encryption procedure consists of several essential tasks – finding target files, encrypting them, corrupting their original filenames and adding .[Help-Mails@Ya.ru].scorpio file extensions to them.

Once the files are encrypted, the virus creates and saves IF YOU WANT TO GET ALL YOUR FILES BACK, PLEASE READ THIS.txt file, which happens to be the ransom note. It contains victim’s personal identifier and instructions on how to get the automatic decryptor.

Cyber criminals suggest writing to Help-Mails@Ya.Ru or second email address – alexous@bk.ru for information about data recovery options. The ransom note doesn’t disclose how much money criminals want to receive from the victim, so it is possible that fraudsters tell a different ransom^[2] price for each victim.

Cyber crooks behind this ransomware provide an opportunity to test their decryption tools – they ask the victim to provide up to 3 files no larger than 5 Mb in size via email. They promise to deliver decrypted file copies in a reply email.

However, the frauds provide one additional rule – the files shouldn’t contain valuable information, so the victim should not send databases, backups, large excel sheets and similar files to test the decryptor.

Ransomware is simply a virtual extortion tool. We do not recommend you to follow cybercriminals’ instructions because they do not provide any guarantees to you. Even if they have a working data decryptor, it doesn’t mean that you are going to receive it after paying the ransom. Besides, think about the consequences – paying the ransom simply allows criminals to fund their further illegal projects.

We hope that you have a data backup – it allows restoring the majority of corrupted data. If you do not have it, we suggest trying data recovery solutions provided below Scorpio virus removal tutorial. When trying to eliminate the virus, you should be using a professional anti-malware software like FortectIntego because it can clean up your system from dangerous files and programs precisely.

Trying to perform the same task manually, especially without a baggage of certain knowledge about computers and malware, can result in a failure. Before you do anything to remove Scorpio malware, reboot PC using instructions provided below the article.

Tips to keep malicious programs at bay

Users who wish to keep malware like ransomware away from their computers should follow certain tips to keep their computers and data protected. Besides, following these tips can also help you to protect your privacy while surfing the world wide web. For more tips, we suggest visiting NoVirus website^[3].

1. Stay away from suspicious letters that reach your email account. If you do not know the sender of it, do not open email attachments or links that came with it.
2. Avoid visiting websites that contain a lot of aggressive ads. If you feel that the site triggers a banner or a pop-up whenever you click on something, quit it. Besides, if your computer opens similar ads at random times, you should check your PC for adware.
3. Enable automatic updates for all programs installed on your computer. This way, you will have the latest and of course, the safest versions of them.
4. Create a data backup.
5. Use anti-spyware or anti-malware program. If you do not have it, you can choose FortectIntego or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes.
6. Never disclose your personal information on vague Internet sites. Avoid entering your email address into questionable online forms, because cyber criminals can use it to send deceptive emails to you.

Remove Scorpio ransomware virus and restore your records

Remove Scorpio virus before you try to unlock your files. The easiest way to get rid of the described cyber threat is to install an anti-malware software and let it scan the entire computer system. It will collect all of the virus’ remains and delete them for you. Please do not take the risk of causing more problems by trying to delete the ransomware manually!

After completing the automatic Scorpio removal, you can start thinking about possible data recovery techniques. As we mentioned before, the easiest way to restore all of your files is to import them from a data backup. In case you can’t take advantage of a data backup because you simply do not have it, try data recovery methods described below.