CHARMANT Virus 🔐 (.CHARMANT Files) — How to Remove?

The Charmant virus belongs to the ransomware type of infection. Malware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the PC (photos, text files, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, leaving the #RECOVERY#.txt text files in every directory containing encrypted files.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.

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What is known about the Charmantvirus?

☝️ A scientifically correct designation for the Charmant is “a ransomware-type infection”.

Charmant will append its extra .charmant extension to every file’s title. For example, a file named “photo.jpg” will be altered to “photo.jpg.charmant”. Just like the Excel table with the name “table.xlsx” will become “table.xlsx.charmant”, and so on.

In every directory that contains the encrypted files, a #RECOVERY#.txt text document will be created. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other information. The ransom note most probably contains a description of how to buy the decryption tool from the Charmant developers. That is it.

Charmant overview:

In the image below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Charmant looks like. Each filename has the “.charmant” extension added to it.

An example of encrypted .charmant files.

How did Charmant ransomware end up on my PC?

There is a huge number of possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for malefactors to have the Charmant virus planted in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan introduction and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your inbox and see letters that look like familiar notifications from utility services companies, postal agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose addresser is strange to you, be wary of opening those letters. They are very likely to have a viral file attached to them. So it is even more dangerous to open any attachments that come with letters like these.

Another option for ransom hunters is a Trojan file scheme¹. A Trojan is a program that infiltrates into your computer disguised as something legal. For example, you download an installer of some program you want or an update for some program. However, what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the update package can have any title and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the files you’re downloading. The best way is to trust the software developers’ official websites.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrent trackers or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never guess what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy websites. Also, it is reasonable to scan the directory containing the downloaded files with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is finished.

How to remove the Charmant virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Charmant virus will probably deploy the Azorult Spyware on your machine to seize your credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can extract your credentials from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Often criminals would unblock several of your files to prove that they do have the decryption tool. Since Charmant virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware designers have not yet found a method to undo its work. Nevertheless, the decryption instruments are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Understandably, if the criminals do the job of encrypting victim’s critical files, the desperate person will most likely fulfill their demands. Despite that, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After obtaining the ransom, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption code to the injured party. There were reports of criminals just vanishing after getting the ransom without even bothering to reply.

The optimal safety measure against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your essential files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that file you were working on when it all started. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Charmant, that work similarly. Examples of those are Coaq, Tyos, Dapo, and some others. The two basic differences between them and the Charmant are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: documents become encoded, their extensions changed, ransom notes are created in each folder containing encoded files.

Some fortunate people were able to decrypt the arrested files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware developers. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decryption code to the victims in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ technology to lay their hands on the money of their victims.

How to avert ransomware infection?

Charmant ransomware has no superpower, neither does any similar malware.

You can defend your PC from its infiltration within several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown senders with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a money prize draw without participating in it?). In case the email subject is more or less something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the dubious email carefully. A fake letter will surely have a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown software. Trojan viruses are often spreaded as a part of cracked products, possibly as a “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to distinguish from trustworthy ones, as trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try searching for information about this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the best way is not to use such software.
• And to be sure about the safety of the files you downloaded, scan them with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This software will be a perfect defense for your personal computer.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft²

There is no better way to recognize, remove and prevent ransomware than to use an anti-malware software from GridinSoft³.

Download Removal Tool.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Run the setup file.

When setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your PC.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your computer for Charmant infections and other malicious programs. This process can take a 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has completed, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in right corner.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 How can I open “.charmant” files?Are the “.charmant” files accessible?

There’s no way to do it, unless the files “.charmant” files are decrypted.

🤔 I really need to decrypt those “.charmant” files ASAP. How can I do that?

If the “.charmant” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. The rest of the methods require patience.

🤔 If GridinSoft deletes the Charmant malware, will it also delete my files that were encrypted?

Of course not. Your encrypted files are no threat to your PC.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware only deals with active threats. The virus that has infiltrated your device is must be still active and it scans your system every so often to encrypt any new files you might create on your PC after the initial attack. As it has been mentioned above, the Charmant virus comes with the company. It installs backdoors and keyloggers that can take your account passwords by trespass and provide hackers with easy access to your computer after some time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Charmant ransomware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation key.

In such an unfortunate situation, you need to prepare a memory stick with a pre-installed Trojan Killer. Use Safe Mode to do the cleaning. The point is that the ransomware runs automatically as the system boots and encodes any new files created or imported into your machine. To stop this function – use Safe Mode, which allows only the vital applications to run upon system boot. Consider reading our manual on running Windows in Safe Mode.

🤔 And what should I do now?

Some of the blocked files can be found elsewhere.

• If you sent or received your important files through email, you could still download them from your online mail server.
• You might have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to post those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud drives might have all those files as well.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, external storage, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery programs⁴ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the ransomware itself with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following governmental fraud and scam sites to report this attack:

• In the United States: On Guard Online;
• In Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• In the United Kingdom: Action Fraud;
• In Australia: SCAMwatch;
• In New Zealand: Consumer Affairs Scams;
• In France: Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information;
• In Germany: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik;
• In Ireland: An Garda Síochána;

To report the attack, you can contact local executive boards. For instance, if you live in USA, you can have a talk with FBI Local field office, IC3 or Secret Service.

1. You can read more on Trojans, their use and types in the Trojan-dedicated section of GridinSoft official website.
2. GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review from HowToFix site: https://howtofix.guide/gridinsoft-anti-malware/
3. More information about GridinSoft products: https://gridinsoft.com/comparison
4. Here’s the list of Best Data Recovery Software Of 2023.