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

The Mamai virus belongs under the MedusaLocker ransomware family. Harmful software of this type encrypts all user’s data on the PC (images, documents, excel sheets, music, videos, etc) and adds its own extension to every file, creating the How_to_back_files.html files in each folder containing encrypted files.

Mamai virus: what is known so far?

☝️ A scientifically correct description for the Mamai would be “a MedusaLocker family ransomware-type malicious agent”.

Mamai adds its extra .mamai extension to every file’s title. It also adds a number at the end, so the final extension is more like .mamai8 or .mamai10. For example, an image entitled “photo.jpg” will be changed to “photo.jpg.mamai10”. Likewise, the Excel file with the name “table.xlsx” will be changed to “table.xlsx.mamai10”, and so on. Each case of attack has a number from 1 to 10 added to the extension.

In each folder with the encrypted files, a How_to_back_files.html file will be created. It is a ransom money note. It contains information on the ways of contacting the racketeers and some other remarks. The ransom note most probably contains instructions on how to purchase the decryption tool from the Mamai developers. That is how they do it.

Mamai overview:

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

How did my computer get infected with Mamai ransomware?

There are plenty of possible ways of ransomware injection.

Nowadays, there are three most exploited ways for malefactors to have the Mamai virus working in your system. These are email spam, Trojan injection and peer file transfer.

If you access your inbox and see emails 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, beware of opening those emails. They are very likely to have a malware item attached to them. Thus it is even more dangerous to download any attachments that come with letters like these.

As for the peer networks like BitTorrent or eMule, the danger 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. So you’d better be using trustworthy websites. Also, it is a good idea to scan the directory containing the downloaded items with the antivirus as soon as the downloading is done.

How do I get rid of the Mamai virus?

It is crucial to inform you that besides encrypting your files, the Mamai virus will probably install the Azorult Spyware on your machine to get access to credentials to various accounts (including cryptocurrency wallets). The mentioned program can derive your logins and passwords from your browser’s auto-filling cardfile.

Sometimes tamperers would unblock few of your files so you know that they really have the decryption program. As Mamai virus is a relatively recent ransomware, anti-malware designers have not yet found a way to reverse its work. Nevertheless, the decryption tools are constantly upgraded, so the effective countermeasure may soon arrive.

Sure thing, if the evildoers do the job of encoding victim’s critical data, the desperate person will most likely comply with their demands. However, paying a ransom gives no guarantee that you’re getting your blocked information back. It is still dangerous. After obtaining the money, the racketeers may send a wrong decryption key to the injured party. There were reports of malefactors just vanishing after getting the money without even bothering to reply.

The best countermeasure to ransomware is to have a system restore point or the copies of your critical files in the cloud drive or at least on an external storage. Of course, that might be not enough. The most crucial thing could be that file you were working on when it all happened. But at least it is something. It is also reasonable to scan your drives with the anti-malware utility after the OS is rolled back.

There are other ransomware products, besides Mamai, that work similarly. For instance, Qoqa, Goaq, Qotr, and some others. The two major differences between them and the Mamai are the ransom amount and the method of encryption. The rest is the same: files become inaccessible, their extensions changed, ransom notes appear in each directory containing encrypted files.

Some lucky users were able to decode the arrested files with the help of the free tools provided by anti-malware developers. Sometimes the criminals mistakenly send the decryption key to the victims in the ransom readme. Such an extraordinary fail allows the injured part to restore the files. But naturally, one should never expect such a chance. Make no mistake, ransomware is a tamperers’ instrument to pull the money out of their victims.

How сan I avoid ransomware injection?

Mamai ransomware doesn’t have a superpower, so as any similar malware.

You can armour your system from its infiltration in several easy steps:

• Never open any emails from unknown mailboxes with unknown addresses, or with content that has nothing to do with something you are waiting for (how can you win in a lottery without participating in it?). If the email subject is likely something you are expecting, scrutinize all elements of the questionable letter carefully. A fake email will always contain a mistake.
• Do not use cracked or unknown programs. Trojan viruses are often distributed as a part of cracked products, most likely under the guise of “patch” preventing the license check. But potentially dangerous programs are very hard to tell from trustworthy ones, as trojans sometimes have the functionality you seek. Try to find information on this program on the anti-malware message boards, but the optimal solution is not to use such software.

Reasons why I would recommend GridinSoft³

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

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

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

🤔 What should I do to make my files accessible as fast as possible?

Hopefully, you have made a copy of those important files. Otherwise, you might try to employ System Restore. The only question is whether you have saved any Restore Points that would be helpful now. All other solutions require time.

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

🤔 What could help the situation right now?

Some of the encrypted files can be located elsewhere.

• If you exchanged 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 family members. Just ask them to give those images back to you.
• If you have initially got any of your files from the Internet, you can try doing it again.
• Your messengers, social networks pages, and cloud disks might have all those files as well.
• It might be that you still have the needed files on your old computer, a portable device, mobile, external storage, etc.

HINT: You can employ data recovery utilities⁵ to get your lost data back since ransomware arrests the copies of your files, deleting the authentic ones. In the video below, you can see how to use PhotoRec for such a restoration, but be advised: you can do it only after you eradicate the virus 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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