LUCKY Ransomware 🔐 [email protected] File Virus Removal

The Lucky virus belongs under the Phobos ransomware family. Malware of this type encrypts all user’s data on the PC (images, documents, excel sheets, audio files, videos, etc) and appends its own extension to every file, leaving the info.hta files in each directory with the encrypted files.

The renaming will be executed according to this pattern: .Lucky. As a part of encryption, a file named, for instance, “report.docx” will be renamed to “report.docx.id[FA41DE01-A237].[[email protected]].Lucky”.

In every directory with the encoded files, a info.hta text document will be created. It is a ransom money memo. Therein you can find information on the ways of paying the ransom and some other remarks. The ransom note usually contains a description of how to purchase the decryption tool from the racketeers. You can obtain this decoding tool after contacting [email protected], [email protected] through email. That is basically the scheme of the crime.

What is known about the Luckyvirus?

☝️ A scientifically correct denomination for the Lucky would be “a Phobos family ransomware infection”.

Lucky Overview:

The info.hta file coming in package with the Lucky ransomware provides the following dispiriting information:

All your files have been encrypted!


All your files have been encrypted due to a security problem with your PC. If you want to restore them, write us to the e-mail [email protected]
Write this ID in the title of your message -
In case of no answer in 24 hours write us to this e-mail:[email protected]
You have to pay for decryption in Bitcoins. The price depends on how fast you write to us. After payment we will send you the tool that will decrypt all your files.


Free decryption as guarantee
Before paying you can send us up to 5 files for free decryption. The total size of files must be less than 4Mb (non archived), and files should not contain valuable information. (databases,backups, large excel sheets, etc.)


How to obtain Bitcoins
The easiest way to buy bitcoins is LocalBitcoins site. You have to register, click \'Buy bitcoins\', and select the seller by payment method and price.
hxxps://localbitcoins.com/buy_bitcoins
Also you can find other places to buy Bitcoins and beginners guide here:
hxxp://www.coindesk.com/information/how-can-i-buy-bitcoins/


Attention!
Do not rename encrypted files.
Do not try to decrypt your data using third party software, it may cause permanent data loss.
Decryption of your files with the help of third parties may cause increased price (they add their fee to our) or you can become a victim of a scam.

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

How did my computer get infected with Lucky ransomware?

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

There are currently three most exploited ways for hackers to have the Lucky virus settled in your system. These are email spam, Trojan infiltration and peer-to-peer networks.

Another thing the hackers might try is a Trojan horse scheme. A Trojan is a program that gets into your PC pretending to be something legal. For instance, you download an installer for some program you need or an update for some software. But what is unboxed turns out to be a harmful agent that corrupts your data. Since the installation package can have any name and any icon, you’d better be sure that you can trust the source of the things you’re downloading. The optimal thing is to trust the software companies’ official websites.

As for the peer file transfer protocols like torrents or eMule, the threat is that they are even more trust-based than the rest of the Web. You can never know what you download until you get it. Our suggestion is that you use trustworthy resources. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the anti-malware utility as soon as the downloading is done.

How to remove the Lucky virus?

It is crucial to note that besides encrypting your data, the Lucky virus will most likely deploy Vidar Stealer on your PC to seize your credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). That spyware can extract your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling data.

Sometimes criminals would decode few of your files to prove that they do have the decryption program. As Lucky virus is a relatively recent ransomware, safety measures developers have not yet found a method to reverse its work. However, the anti-ransomware tools are constantly updated, so the effective countermeasure may soon be available.

Understandably, if the tamperers do the job of encrypting victim’s essential data, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. Nevertheless, paying a ransom does not necessarily mean that you’re getting your files back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may deliver a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of criminals just vanishing after getting the money without even writing back.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have aan OS restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external storage. Surely, that might be insufficient. The most important thing could be that one you were working upon when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also advisable to scan your PC for viruses with the anti-malware utility after the system restoration.

Lucky is not the only ransomware of its kind, since there are other specimens of ransomware out there that act in the same manner. Examples of those are Agpo, Tgvv, Bhgr, and some others. The two main differences between them and the Lucky are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: documents become encoded, their extensions altered, ransom notes are found in each directory containing encoded files.

Some fortunate people were able to decode the blocked files with the aid of the free tools provided by anti-ransomware specialists. Sometimes the racketeers mistakenly send the decryption 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 rely on such a chance. Remember, ransomware is a criminals’ tool to pull the money out of their victims.

How сan I avert ransomware infection?

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

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

• Never open any letters from unknown mailers 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 letter carefully. A hoax letter will surely contain a mistake.
• Never use cracked or unknown programs. Trojans are often shared as a part of cracked products, most likely as a “patch” to prevent the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are difficult to tell from reliable software, because trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information on this software product on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal way is not to use such programs at all.

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”.

FAQ

🤔 Are the “.Lucky” files accessible?

Negative. That is why ransomware is so frustrating. Until you decode the “.Lucky” files you will not be able to access them.

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

If the “.Lucky” files contain some really important information, then you probably have them backed up. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. The rest of the methods require patience.

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

🤔 What can I do right now?

Some of the blocked data can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged your important files by email, you could still download them from your online mailbox.
• You may have shared photographs or videos with your friends or relatives. Simply ask them to give those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Web, you can try to do it again.
• Your messengers, social media pages, and cloud drives might have all those files too.
• Maybe you still have the needed files on your old PC, a portable device, cellphone, flash memory, etc.

USEFUL TIP: You can use file recovery utilities⁴ to retrieve your lost information since ransomware encodes the copies of your files, deleting the original ones. In the tutorial below, you can learn how to recover your files with PhotoRec, but remember: you won’t be able to do it before you eradicate the ransomware itself with an antivirus 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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