Beware Android Ransomware

Trojans and virus are something which Android phone users must be wary of and protect themselves from, and now a new menace has hit in the form of ransomware.

Ransomware manages to infect a phone via dodgy adverts on dubious websites and downloads to your device. Obviously more savvy Android users will spot the download and will either have downloads disabled or stop it from progressing, but the average user is a risk here.

Once download the trojan, named Trojan.Koler.A, locks the device down and displays a warning claiming illegal pornography has been viewed and that a $300 “fine” must be paid to unlock the phone. The “fine” is obvious a scam and will be paid to the scammers who created the trojan. The bug is even location and IP aware displaying a different message depending on where you are.

It is not known if you can simply uninstall Trojan.Koler.A or if an antivirus app will detect it, our best advice is to prevent downloads expect from Google Play and keep away from dubious sites.