A shocking story from Romania – Ransomware victim kills his 4-year-old son and commits suicide
According to local newspaper Braila24, 36-year-old Romanian Marcel Datcu was found dead with his four-year-old son in his apartment. The man allegedly made the decision to end the little boy's life and then commit suicideafter his computer was infected with ransomware while browsing adult websites.
The victim was left in despair, as he believed he had received a real warning from the police, informing him that he had broken the law and that he would have to pay an exorbitant fine or go to prison.
“I don’t think what I did was normal (…) I am very sorry and I apologize to all of you (…) I received a warning [on my computer] to pay a fine of 70,000 lei (€15,519) or go to prison for 11 years (…) I don’t want Nicusor [the suicide bomber’s 4-year-old son] to suffer because of me (…) I can’t stand going to prison. I can’t!”, reads the note the suicide bomber left for his wife shortly before he committed suicide.
Researchers are trying to determine if there is indeed a Russian version of ransomware that demands such a large amount of money. The most common ransomware asks users for 100 or 200 euros in order to get rid of it.
