Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus (PCeU) – How to Unblock Computer and Android Phone

Advanced Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

Police Central E-Crime Unit virus belongs to ransomware whose first version was detected in May, 2006 by Websense, a filter software vendor, to ask for $200 to acquire the decipher code for encrypted files on computers and Android phones. The first version of ransomware is quite simple, there’s no national logo, flag, emblem, regulations or payment method as the case in Police Central E-Crime Unit virus attack.

(This is the initial look of Police Central E-Crime Unit virus)

There are other interfaces of Police Central E-Crime Unit virus:

 

Police Central E-Crime Unit virus will keep generating different interface to continue its fraudulent practice so as to make victims confused and think that may be this time is genuine because the interface is different with more official look now.

PCeU virus is so intrusive that many PC and Android phone users get the lock up virus again and again. We hereby list down several commonly used attack methods for all walks of life to know it better and thus prevent it better.

Ⅰ Taking advantage of E－mailBomb to fabricate IP address and Email address to send thousands of hundreds of spam emails to a target email in a bid to fill up the mailbox and occupy a good deal of cyber source, making it more likely to be infected with Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.

Ⅱ Utilizing Trojan to run an executable file that runs when Windows/Android starts to make it possible to control your computer/Android phone when victim is surfing online, browse drivers, filch password, modify files, logon registry, etc..

Ⅲ Looking for bugs on installed programs or websites before corresponding patches are issued from Windows/Android to form a backdoor which can be easily exploited by other types of virus, resulting in residual damages to the computer/Android phone even after one removes Police Central E-Crime Unit virus successfully, such as

1) computer/Android phone sluggishness;

2) search redirect problems;

3) additional programs are installed without consent;

4) irritating popup issues.

Ⅳ Luring PC/Android phone users to download computer-friendly/Android-friendly programs on web sites programmed by the hacker behind PCeU virus to help download the vicious codes onto a target computer smoothly.

All the above mentioned methods aim to make incursions into websites so as to spread itself to wide range of PC/Android phone users. Therefore, one should be extraordinarily prudent when surfing online.

Hidden Factors to Get Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

Most PC/Android phone users don’t attach great attention to website security. Some visit website without thinking over the question whether the site is secure beforehand; some do not know what a patch is so they don’t know it is necessary to update patch for installed programs as well as Windows/Android system on a regular base; some do not throw doubt over the links contained in emails and sent through instant messages. All these can give rise to Ukash virus attack, including Police Central E-Crime Unit virus infiltration as it has been successfully locked up screens of many people. To prevent such horrible event from happening, one should:

(1) Restrict vulnerability in IIS (Internet Information Services).

(2) Run reputable anti-virus programs or other types of security utilities to see if there is any patch that needs to be updated.

(3) Turn down the request from TRACE HTTP to prevent online conversation from being hijacked, in case, by Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.

(4) Impose restrictions on Apache HTTP Server to prevent virus like Police Central E-Crime Unit ransomware from reading all information of the machine.

(5) Disable WebDAV to assure that Police Central E-Crime Unit virus cannot modify files to upload vicious codes since the access to HTTP is broken thereafter.

(6) Disable Directory index to prevent infections like Police Central E-Crime Unit virus to copy and make use of the computer’s Directory to help with its infiltration.

(7) Disable banner, ServerSignature and ServerTokens from being tracked down to the extent that what is actually running on a target computer and where is the PC user going.

(8) Install website monitor, Firewall to help filter junk sites and sites with sensitive content so as to decrease the possibility to be locked down by Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.

If you don’t know how to bring those preventions into force, you are welcome to consult for modifications on terminals here.
 

Tricky Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

Such infiltration can be considered to be a high-risky crime since the hacker, in order to extract large amount of money, has to invade a system(Windows/Android), leave malicious code, notify victims, wait for response and gather the so called ransom at the end. However, the hackers are well-equipped with computer technology to deter arrest.

Ⅰ The hacker behind Police Central E-Crime Unit virus will not initiate attack from its computer. He would attack other server to gain control over other computers/Android phones and make them appear to be the source of attacker.

Ⅱ The hacker collects money by using Ukash, a prepaid payment method that will not stand a chance to get your money back after paying for fraudulent commodities with voucher of the equivalent value to Pounds/ US Dollars/ AUD/ CAD and so on.

 

Self-help Guide to Remove Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

Guide applicable to the case where ‘Safe Mode with Networking’ is accesible.

★ Boot into Safe Mode with Networking.

> Users who own Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Stay at the screen locked by Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.
• Hold Alt,Ctrl and delete key together.

• Hold shift key and click on power button at the same time.
• Select Restart.
• Select Troubleshoot with arrow keys and hit Enter key.

• Go to Advanced options.
• Hit Restart button at the right bottom of the screen.
• Tap F5 to get into safe mode with networking.

> Users who own Windows 7/XP/Vista are welcome to follow up:

• Keep tapping on “F8 key” continuously as the computer is booting but before Windows launches.

• Highlight “Safe Mode with Networking” option under “Windows Advanced Options Menu”.
• Press Enter key.

★ When log into Safe Mode with Networking, go to disable startup items to stop Police Central E-Crime Unit virus from automatically popping up.

> Users who run Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Type ‘Task’ in Charms bar activated by moving mouse to lower part of Start screen.
• Hit Enter key.
• Find and check the box next to the items related to Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.
• Press ‘Disable’ option.

> Users who run Windows 7/XP/Vista are welcome to follow up:

• Press Win key and R key simultaneously to launch Search/ Run box.
• Type ‘msconfig’ and hit Enter key.
• Find and checl boxes next to the items related to Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.
• Press ‘Disable All’ option.

★ Rectify database ( which refers to registry editor)

> Users who run Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Type ‘regedit’ in Search charm after moving mouse over lower right screen.
• Hit Enter key.
• Press and hold Ctrl+F to search for Winlogon.

• Find the key labeled Shell in the right pane.
• Right click on it and substitute it with ‘explorer.exe’ to help remove Police Central E-Crime Unit virus with the following steps.

> Users who run Windows 7/XP/Vista are welcome to follow up:

• Press Win key and R key simultaneously to launch Search/ Run box.
• Put ‘regedit’ in the box and press Enter.
• Press and hold Ctrl+F to search for Winlogon.
• Locate the key labeled Shell in the right pane.
• Right click on it and substitute it with ‘explorer.exe’ to help remove Police Central E-Crime Unit virus with the following steps.

★ Show hidden files to remove Police Central E-Crime Unit virus.

> Users who run Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Open Windows Explorer by clicking on Windows Explorer application from Start Screen.

• Select View tab on Windows Explorer window to tick ‘File name extensions’ and ‘Hidden items’ options.
• Browse to Roaming folder and Temp folder respectively in C Disk to remove files with abnormal name, such as serial numbers with random letters.

> Users who run Windows 7/XP/Vista are welcome to follow up:

• Open ‘Control Panel’ from Start menu and double click on ‘Folder Options’.
• Tick ‘Show hidden files and folders and non-tick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’ under View tab and click ‘OK’.
• Browse to Roaming folder and Temp folder respectively in C Disk to remove files with abnormal name, such as serial numbers with random letters.

★ Save changes, reboot to normal mode to see if you have removed Police Central E-Crime Unit virus with success.

Guide applicable to the case where ‘Safe Mode with Command Prompt’ is accesible.

★ Boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

> Users who run Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Press Alt,Ctrl and delete key together to bring up a blue screen with a power icon at the right bottom.
• Hold shift key and click on power button at the same time.
• Select Troubleshoot with arrow keys.
• Enter into Advanced options.
• Hit Restart button at the right bottom of the screen.
• Tap F6 once to get into safe mode with command prompt.

> Users who run Windows 7/XP/Vista are welcome to follow up:

• Keep tapping “F8 key” continuously as the computer is booting but before Windows launches.
• Highlight “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” option with arrow keys under “Windows Advanced Options Menu” comes up.
• Press Enter key.

★ Create a new user account from cmd.

• Type ‘explore’ where a slash is flashing after ‘System32’.
• Hit Enter key to see obtain a functional desktop.
• Created a new user account with administrator right.

★ Remove Police Central E-Crime Unit virus in the newly created user account.

• Restart the computer normally.
• Enter into the newly created user account.
• Follow steps depicted in the ‘Safe Mode with Networking’ section after booting into Safe Mode with Networking.

Guide applicable to the case where none of all forms of safe mode is available.

★ Reboot your computer and log into ‘Repair Your PC’.

> Users who run Windows XP are welcome to follow up:

• Insert Windows XP CD into the drive (if Autoplay kicks in, exit out of it).
• Click on Start before selecting Run.
• Copy and Paste ‘sfc /scannow’ within the text box.
• Windows File Protection Service scans all protected files and verifies integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem.
• Be patient and allow this process to proceed completely.
• Restart your computer once this process is completed.

> Users who run Windows 7 are welcome to follow up:

• Put Windows 7 CD in your optical drive.
• Restart to boot from the DVD.
• On the “Install Windows” screen, make the appropriate selections for language, time, and keyboard, and then click “Next”.
• On the next screen, click “Repair Your Computer”.
• In “System Recovery Options”, select which operating system you want to restore if any are listed, and click “Next”.
• The “System Recovery Options” screen shows up and select “Startup Repair”.

> Users who run Windows 8 are welcome to follow up:

• Type ‘Advanced’ in Charms bar on Start Screen.
• Click Settings category.
• Select Advanced startup options.
• Scroll down to the bottom to select Advanced startup on General PC Settings screen.
• Press on Restart now.
• Next select Troubleshoot.
• Advanced options to follow up.
• Click on Automatic Repair.
• Log in the User Account affected byPolice Central E-Crime Unit virus.
• Automatic repair will now start.
• After a while, your computer will automatically restart; please leave it to complete all the process.

> Users who run Windows Vista are welocme to follow up:

• Insert Windows Vista DVD and restart the computer with the DVD in.
• ‘Press any key to boot from CD or DVD’ is displayed in black background.
• Press any key to start the booting process.
• A new screen will appear saying ‘Windows is loading files’.
• Another small progress bar appears after several minutes.
• Select your language and keyboard language and click Next button when you are given options.
• Click on the Repair Your Computer option at the bottom left of install screen.
• Once the ‘Vista installation’ is located, highlight it and then click the Next button.
• You will see the picture below:

• Click on Startup Repair and let the wizard finish.
• It is perfectly normal that the computer restarts after it finishes the process.

There is no report on Police Central E-Crime Unit virus attacking Mac so far. But take the fact that FBI virus targeting Mac into consideration, it is better to offer the self-help guide to help unblock the computer from PCeU virus hereinafter, just in case.

• Stay on Police Central E-Crime Unit virus screen.
• Click on Safari menu.
• Choose ‘Reset Safari’.

• Tick all given options and press ‘Reset’ to confirm the change.

• Click on the search icon on the right-up corner of the screen.
• Type safari (the browser that has Police Central E-Crime Unit virus) on the search box.
• Choose safari by clicking on it once.
• Police Central E-Crime Unit virus should be gone by now.

 

Say No to Police Central E-Crime Unit Virus

It is not advisable to keep silent and submit the amount of money to Police Central E-Crime Unit virus within the period so fix on its displaying message. There are some people still thinking that they actually violated the laws, after all, they did streaming pornography movies online. Bear in mind that no national department would collect ransom by suddenly locking up computers/Android phones, regardless of the official look and legal terms. Victims should publish their experience on exchange platform, such as Facebook, Tweeter so as to stop people from being fooled again. Besides, victims should report such event to corresponding department, though there is slim hope to arrest the hacker. However, we can do something to restrain this kind of event from happening a lot and save money for company operation or daily expenses.
 

Conclusion:

The popularization and development of computer/Android technology has made computer and Android phone as two common household appliances. And networked computer and Android phone are the significant symbols of our time, the information age. With web technology being used more and more widely, some people with bad intentions start to make use of operating system, Office, vulnerability on browsers (IE, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome) and characteristics of Java, VB and ActiveX to make virus. Virus like Police Central E-Crime Unit virus is able to commit damages more than just imposing adverse impact on network operation, collapsing network traffic in a large scale, destroy data in a system, causing inconveniency to handle official business and life, it is capable of encrypting our treasured documents and introducing additional virus. So there should not be any hesitation in removing Police Central E-Crime Unit virus. Sadly that programs will not help with a complete fix, and some victims can’t even run rescue disk since all functions are disabled and the whole screen is blocked. In such case, it is recommended to employ manual method to remove Police Central E-Crime Unit virus completely. And since the Android technology is mastered by specialists exclusively, it is recommended the Android victims get instant help from the expert here.

Police Central E-Crime Unit virus not merely focuses on damaging the infectious system but also aims at stealing confidential data for benefit-making. Police Central E-Crime Unit virus can constantly exploits system vulnerabilities to completely compromising the infectious machine and open backdoor for hijackers. Once hijackers accessed into the target computer, they can fast collect confidential data by tracking online activities (browsing histories, cookies, remembered online transaction data) and collecting sensitive data from email accounts, Credit Card numbers stored on hard drives. Therefore, if the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus won’t be removed from the infectious computer and Android phone ASAP, victims have to face incredible damages on both system and economy.

Furthermore, the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus is cable of making the infectious computer and Android phone extremely vulnerable for other malware infiltration. Especially browser hijacker virus provides users with bogus ads including coupons, deals, revenues, etc. to confuse and entice then into downloading aggressive malware to the victimized machine as well. Police Central E-Crime Unit virus self is an extorting virus, the hijackers masquerade it with the disguise of the law enforcement organization of PCeU and take advantage of this to blackmail money from target online computer/Android phone users. Again, don’t need to pay the demand penalty fine to hijacker. Although you have paid to them, the Police Central E-Crime Unit virus still locks you out from Windows.

 

Published & last updated on September 11, 2014 by Erik V. Miller