What is “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam? And how does it work?

“Your computer has been banned!!!” is a new tech support scam that does not only display an alarming message to its victims but also locks the screen of their computers. This tech support scam is kind of similar to “Your Windows Has Been Banned” scam which also has the ability to lock computer’s screen.  As you can see, this scam alert is not a typical tech support scam which is usually seen on different websites.
According to security experts, this malware comes into the computer as a “Minecraft Installer”. After the infiltration, it will make changes in the system’s settings in order to lock the computer screen. Once these changes are applied, the malware will lock the computer’s screen with a blue background and a message that states:
“Your computer has been banned!!!
Your computer has been banned because we got some illegal files and illegal
Windows key from your computer??
You need to do the following things:

1. Get the key
2. Call the tech support
3. Restart the computer and done

If you can’t get the key, your computer will be destroyed
Tech Support phone number: +1-855-381-5333
It’s free!
Type the new Windows key here. —->”
The main goal of this tech support scam is to get users to call the phone number provided which is +1-855-381-5333. Cyber crooks want victims to believe that the only way to regain access to the locked computer is by calling the number. However doing so is certainly not recommended as the tech support behind this number are actually fake ones. You might also unknowingly grant these crooks remote access to your computer which could lead to another problem. Thus, you must not call the fake tech support number no matter what.
How does “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam circulate the internet?
The “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam circulates the internet via third-party sources of games. As mentioned earlier, this scam infiltrates a computer via a “Minecraft Installer”. Thus, you need to be careful in downloading any game or program especially if they are from suspicious and third-party sources.
Delete the “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam by following the given removal instructions below.
You should ignore this message and proceed with removing the malware from your computer before it gets worse. To remove “Your Windows has been Banned” scam, refer to the removal guide below.
Step 1: Unlock your screen by typing Z234-0113-522T-3UIOP into the unlock box and then click on the Submit button.
Step 2: After that, open the Windows Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc at the same time. Proceed to the Processes tab and look for suspicious processes that can be related to the “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam.

Step 3: Close the Task Manager and reset all the affected browsers to default.
Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
3. Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
4. Click OK to save the changes.
5. Now switch to the Advanced tab and click the Reset button.
6. Then check the box for “Delete personal settings” and then click Reset again.

Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
2. Look for any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
3. Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
4. Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
5. Click on Advanced.
6. After that, click the Reset button to reset Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the browser and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
2. In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
3. Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
4. Select Options and then move to the General menu.
5. Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section.
6. Tap Alt + H to access Help.
7. Next, select “Troubleshooting information” and click “Refresh Firefox” at the top of the page.
8. Now click “Refresh Firefox” again to confirm the reset.

Step 4: Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and then type in appwiz.cpl to open Control Panel to uninstall the adware program behind the fake alert.
Step 5: Look for the adware program or any unfamiliar program under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.

Step 6: Close the Control Panel and tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
Step 7: Navigate to the following directories and look for the malicious components of the malware such as the Minecraft Installer as well as other suspicious files and delete them.

• %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
• %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
• %TEMP%

Step 8: Close the File Explorer.
Before you proceed to the next steps below, make sure that you are tech savvy enough to the point where you know exactly how to use and navigate your computer’s Registry. Keep in mind that any changes you make will highly impact your computer. To save you the trouble and time, you can just use [product-name] this system tool is proven to be safe and excellent enough that hackers won’t be able to hack into it. But if you can manage Windows Registry well, then, by all means, go on to the next steps.
Step 9: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.

Step 10: Navigate to the paths listed below and delete all the registry values added by malware behind the “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
• HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

Step 11: Close the Registry Editor and empty your Recycle Bin.
To make sure “Your computer has been banned!!!” scam is completely deleted as well as the adware program behind it, you need to use an efficient program like [product-name]. To use it, follow the advanced steps below:
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
2. After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

3. To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
4. Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
5. Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

6. If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
7. Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
8. After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
9. Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.

10. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now”button.