The Sp3ctr3 Virus and “I Know You Are A Pedophile” Hacker Email Scam In Depth
Sp3ctr3 Email is a brand new addition to the Trojan Horse bitcoin email malware category like “Save Yourself”, “Drive by Exploit” and “You got infected with my malware” and if you are reading this, then you most probably are in need of some instructions on how to deal with it. This is an email scam almost identical to other examples like . Please note that this is not a real issue (a trojan virus per se) but may be indicative of malware problems inside your system.And you are definitely right to seek assistance with the removal of this malware because Sp3ctr3 Email is a very malicious computer program that can perform numerous harmful activities inside your PC.
A Trojan Horse is something nobody wants to get in their computer – those advanced cyber hazards are known for their versatility and are used in the completion of many kinds of online crimes. A newly released Trojan infection named Sp3ctr3 will be the central topic of this short article. In the following lines, we will do our best to give you useful information about the potential negative effects on your system that this malware piece may bring, and we will try to help you eliminate the infection in a safe and effective way. Also, remember that you can ask us any questions you may have related to this virus and its removal inside the comments section on the current page.
What can you expect if a Trojan like Sp3ctr3 attacks you?
The Trojans like Sp3ctr3 are some of the more unpredictable forms of malware. They are tools of cyber crime that typically have a variety of harmful abilities. One of the key things that makes the Trojans so effective and that gives them so many options once they are in the infected computer’s system is the elevated privileges that they typically strive to gain in the attacked machine. The Elevated or Admin privileges comprise the maximum level of access and clearance inside a given computer – basically, if a Trojan as this level of access, it would be able to execute tasks and processes in your system that only the Admin of the computer is allowed to execute. This would also give the malware access to most of the data files located in the machine – everything that you can access as the Admin of the computer would now be accessible to the Trojan as well.
“But how does a Trojan like Sp3ctr3 gain these privileges?”, you may ask. The answer to this question lies in the name of this type of malware. There is a reason they are called Trojans Horses – a direct reference to the ancient Greek myth about the infamous wooden Horse used to conquer Troy. In a similar way, the Trojan Horse virus is initially presented to its potential victims as something that wouldn’t normally raise suspicion. For example, many Trojans are disguised as the installers of pirated games or other useful and expensive programs (that are now free due to being illegally distributed). Of course, this is only a disguise, and once the .exe file gets opened and the user gives their permission of an Admin, the Trojan is set loose inside the now infected system. From then on, the possibilities for harm are many – the Trojan may access personal info and use it to blackmail its victim, and it may directly steal money from the user’s banking accounts if it manages to obtain the banking numbers. Some Trojans are also known for silently downloading Ransomware cryptoviruses into the system, and for using most of the attacked machine’s resources for cryptocurrency mining tasks. And those are only a small number of examples. As for what Sp3ctr3 may do to you in particular, the information we have on it right now isn’t enough to tell you that with certainty. The one certain thing here is that you should definitely use our guide below to remove the threat ASAP, or else you may soon your find yourself in a world of trouble due to the effects of the malware on your system.
Sp3ctr3 SUMMARY:
| Name | Sp3ctr3 |
| Type | Trojan |
| Danger Level | High (Trojans are often used as a backdoor for Ransomware) |
| Symptoms | The Trojan may cause your system to crash to BSOD and different software in your computer to get errors and to become unresponsive. |
| Distribution Method | Most of the time, Trojans get distributed through spam e-mails and social network messages, malicious ads, shady and pirated downloads, questionable torrents and other similar methods. |
Sp3ctr3 Email Blackmail Scam Removal
1: Preparations
Note: Before you go any further, we advise you to bookmark this page or have it open on a separate device such as your smartphone or another PC. Some of the steps might require you to exit your browser on this PC.
2: Task Manager
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to enter the Task Manager. Go to the Tab labeled Processes (Details for Win 8/10). Carefully look through the list of processes that are currently active on you PC.
If any of them seems shady, consumes too much RAM/CPU or has some strange description or no description at all, right-click on it, select Open File Location and delete everything there.
Also, even if you do not delete the files, be sure to stop the process by right-clicking on it and selecting End Process.
3: IP related to Sp3ctr3
Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the hosts file with notepad.
Find where it says Localhost and take a look below that.
If you see any IP addresses there (below Localhost) send them to us here, in the comments since they might be coming from the Sp3ctr3.
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4: Disable Startup programs
Re-open the Start Menu and type msconfig.
Click on the first search result. In the next window, go to the Startup tab. If you are on Win 10, it will send you to the Startup part of the task manager instead, as in the picture:
If you see any sketchy/shady looking entries in the list with an unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer name that looks suspicious as there could be a link between them and Sp3ctr3 , disable those programs and select OK.
5: Registry Editor
Press Windows key + R and in the resulting window type regedit.
Now, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus.
Delete everything that gets found. If you are not sure about whether to delete something, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments. Keep in mind that if you delete the wrong thing, you might cause all sorts of issues to your PC.
6: Deleting potentially malicious data – Sp3ctr3
Type each of the following locations in the Windows search box and hit enter to open the locations:
%AppData%
%LocalAppData%
%ProgramData%
%WinDir%
%Temp%
Delete everything you see in Temp linked to Sp3ctr3 Ransomware. About the other folders, sort their contents by date and delete only the most recent entries. As always, if you are not sure about something, write to us in the comment section.