The police logo is being used by fraudsters asking computer users to pay fines online on grounds of unauthorised cyber activity.

The police noted yesterday it did not collect fines in such a manner and, therefore, any computer messages attempting to do so were fraudulent.

“Users targeted by police ransomware should not pay any money,” the police cautioned.

Ransomware is a form of malware, short for malicious software, designed to cause damage and which finds its way into a computer.

The police said computer systems infected with the police ransomware displayed a warning message claiming that the user’s computer had been “suspended on grounds of unauthorised cyber activity” and that a fine must be paid for the machine to be unblocked.

“Usually, the user will notice that the computer has seized up or that his documents are no longer accessible. In almost all cases, paying the ransom does not restore the computer to its original state,” the police said.

Anyone who was deceived into paying is encouraged to lodge a police report, providing as much information as possible, including a screenshot of the ransom message, payment information, details of the activity being undertaken on the computer when the ransom message appeared and the date and time when this happened.