FACTFULL Ransomware — How to remove virus?

The Factfull virus falls under the Makop ransomware family. Harmful software of such sort encrypts all user’s data on the computer (images, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and adds its extra extension to every file, leaving the readme-warning.txt files in each folder which contains the encrypted files.

Factfull virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A strictly accurate denomination for the Factfull would be “a Makop family ransomware infection”.

The scheme of renaming is this: [victim\’s_ID].[email_address].factfull. In the course of encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.[87C29B86].[[email protected]].factfull”.

In each folder containing the encrypted files, a readme-warning.txt text document will appear. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information about the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. That is how they do it.

Factfull summary:

In the picture below, you can see what a directory with files encrypted by the Factfull looks like. Each filename has the “.[victim\’s_ID].[email_address].factfull” extension appended to it.

How did Factfull ransomware end up on my PC?

There are many possible ways of ransomware infiltration.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited methods for evil-doers to have ransomware working in your digital environment. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer-to-peer networks.

If you access your mailbox and see letters that look just like notifications from utility services companies, delivery agencies like FedEx, web-access providers, and whatnot, but whose sender is strange to you, be wary of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a harmful file enclosed in them. Therefore, it is even riskier to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

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

How to remove the Factfull virus?

It is important to note that besides encrypting your data, the Factfull virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your PC to get access to credentials to different accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned spyware³ can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes criminals would decode several of your files to prove that they indeed have the decryption tool. Since Factfull virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a way to undo its work. However, the decoding instruments are frequently updated, so the solution may soon be available.

Sure thing, if the criminals do the job of encoding victim’s critical files, the hopeless person will probably comply with their demands. Despite that, paying to racketeers does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your data back. It is still risky. After receiving the ransom, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of racketeers simply vanishing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best solution against ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud disk or at least on an external drive. Obviously, that might be insufficient. Your most crucial thing could be that one you were working on when it all went down. But at least it is something. It is also wise to scan your PC for viruses with the antivirus program after the system is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Factfull, that work similarly. Examples of those are Vfgj, Zaqi, Loov, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Factfull are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is almost identical: files become blocked, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each folder containing encoded files.

Some lucky users were able to decrypt the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware experts. Sometimes the hackers mistakenly send the decoding code to the wronged in the ransom note. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But of course, one should never expect such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a bandits’ technology to pull the money out of their victims.

How to avert ransomware injection?

Factfull ransomware doesn’t have a endless power, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your computer from its infiltration taking several easy steps:

• Never open any letters from unknown mailboxes with strange addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are expecting (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). In case the email subject is likely something you are waiting for, scrutinize all elements of the suspicious email carefully. A hoax email will always contain a mistake.
• Avoid using cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often distributed as an element of cracked software, possibly under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But dubious programs are very hard to tell from reliable ones, because trojans may also have the functionality you seek. You can try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware forums, but the best way is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft⁴

Download Removal Tool.

Run the setup file.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

Click on “Clean Now”.

Frequently Asked Questions

🤔 Can I somehow access “.[victim\’s_ID].[email_address].factfull” files?

Unfortunately, no. You need to decipher the “.[victim\’s_ID].[email_address].factfull” files first. Then you will be able to open them.

🤔 The encrypted files are very important to me. How can I decrypt them quickly?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. If not, there is still a function of System Restore but it needs a Restore Point to be previously saved. There are other ways to beat ransomware, but they take time.

🤔 What actions should I take if the Factfull malware has blocked my computer and I can’t get the activation code.

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your critical files via email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared images or videos with your friends or relatives. Just ask them to post those pictures back to you.
• If you have initially downloaded any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud storage might have all those files too.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a laptop, cellphone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can employ data recovery programs⁶ to get your lost data back since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you can do it only after you remove the virus with an anti-malware program.

Also, you can contact the following official 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.

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