Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Okay about 2 day ago i had just got this laptop back which was stolen from me about month ago via aquiantice who had claimed he "found it." I doubt his the one whole stole it but i still wonder how he got it. Anyways after getting it back i set it back to factory setting and as i was playing game a weird chat box appeared and the user claimed to be a anti-child porn agent, and had claimed it's been watching the laptops activity for 4 weeks and has evidence that their was child porn on the computer, then agent claimed if i paid $130 dollars via paypal they would deleted it but if not they would send my ip address to the cops and have me arrested, now normally i wouldn't give this a second thought but seeing as the laptop was stolen and i have no real evidence to prove it was, and that things could still be pulled even after deletion, that i would be in trouble if there happen to be anything of the sort on there, so my question is what do i do.

Well, part of it is a scam.

It is very possible that child porn was viewed / downloaded onto that computer along with a virus that allows someone to send messages like this.

Personally I'd take the hard drive out, smash it into 1000000 pieces, and buy a new one.

Or you can notify the cops about it.

If you DO find child porn on the computer or any peer-to-peer applications that weren't on it when it was stolen, contact the police.

Well, should i just go ahead and contact the police about it, i can't really afford a new hard drive and if there is anyway to avoid destorying it?

Well, should i just go ahead and contact the police about it, i can't really afford a new hard drive and if there is anyway to avoid destorying it?

As someone who works child pornography cases, IF, there's child porn on the hard drive we're going to seize it and you'll have to buy a new one anyway.

Child porn is illegal to view, posses, send or recieve. It's best to get it checked by the police, now. If, we come across it on our own, you'll be hard pressed to convince us weeks, months or years from now you were unaware of its presence.

well, dang looks like i'm screwed either way it seems, guess i might as well turn it in then, and let them check it. thanks for the help guys, just sucks cause i just got this a couple months ago.

It's a scam. No anti porn agent is going to ask you for money. Buy a program to wipe the harddrive. Ccleaner supposedly does a decent job and it's free.

Just to add, I doubt there is child porn on your computer. The guy that had it before was probably surfing porn sites and picked up a virus of some kind. You might contact your ISP about the guy asking for money though. But rest assured, he's no government official.

yeah might still turn it in tho, i'd rather turn it in, get it checked and be safe then keep it on the off chance there is something bein on there that shouldn't be and gettin arrested for it.

See this article

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Citadel Malware Delivers Reveton Ransomware in Attempts to Extort Money (http://www.ic3.gov/media/2012/120530.aspx)