The Recme Scarab virus is a new version of the Scarab ransomware family. It has been detected in an ongoing attack that carries the new versions. Like the previous versions it is capable of inflicting much damage to the victim hosts.
Threat Summary
| Name | Recme Scarab |
| Type | Ransomware, Cryptovirus |
| Short Description | The ransomware encrypts sensitive information on your computer system with the .recme extensions and demands a ransom to be paid to allegedly recover them. |
| Symptoms | The ransomware will encrypt your files with a strong encryption algorithm. |
| Distribution Method | Spam Emails, Email Attachments |
| Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Recme Scarab. |
| Data Recovery Tool | Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive. |
Recme Scarab Virus – Distribution Ways
The Recme Scarab virus is being distributed using the most common tactics associated with the Scarab ransomware family. One of the main mechanisms is the use of email SPAM messages that are created in bulk using templates that are modeled after the notifications used by popular Internet services. They can either be directly attached or hyperlinked in the body contents. To increase the number of infected hosts the criminals may also create supporting fake download sites that spoof popular web services. Together with the counterfeit emails they are the main method for another infection mechanism — infected payloads. There are two popular versions of it:
- Applications Installers — The criminals behind the Recme Scarab virus can create dangerous software installers by taking the legitimate files from the official vendor sites and modifying them with the malware. Often popular applications are targeted such as system utilities, productivity apps or creativity suites.
- Infected Documents — Using a similar mechanism the hackers can embed the Recme Scarab virus startup scripts in documents of different types: rich text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases.
Strains associated with the Scarab ransomware family can also be spread via browser hijackers. They represent malicious web browser plugins that are spread using the relevant application’s extension repository. The criminals behind the plugins often use fake developer credentials and user reviews along with an elaborate description in order to fool the users into installing the malicious extensions.
Recme Scarab Virus – In-Depth Analysis
The Recme Scarab virus is the newest strain that originates from the Scarab ransomware family. The security analysis reveals that it shares much with the code of former versions which means that it may be an updated version of former variants. There are two possible explanations for the continuous creation of Scarab ransomware:
- The hackers behind Scarab are incrementally creating several versions of the ransomware in order to track the different campaigns.
- The computer hackers behind the original Scarab ransomware are offering customization services or have provided the source code on the underground markets. This allows individual actors and criminal collectives to create their own versions of Scarab.
Like other similar threats it can launch several modules depending on the targets. One of the first ones is typically the information gathering component. It is programmed to harvest strings that can reveal the victim’s identity and their hardware. Ransomware strains such as this one are widely used to expose the identity of the users, as well as commit identity theft and financial abuse crimes. Examples include taking the user’s name, address, telephone number, interests, locations and passwords found on the infected hosts.
The harvested data can then be processed by a stealth protection module that is able to protect the target computers from dscovery by scanning for the presence of any security measures. The list includes all sorts of anti-virus products, firewalls, virtual machine hosts, debug environments and etc. They can be either disabled or completely removed depending on the specific instructions.
Once the Recme Scarab has been deployed onto the target systems the virus engine will begin to cause various system modifications. Usually most of them are set against the Windows Registry. When the modifications are made to entries belonging to the operating system overall perforamnce may suffer. When such actions are done against individual user-installed software certain functions may be disabled.
The Recme Scarab virus can be instituted as a persistent threat. The underlying engine reconfigures the boot options so that the Recme Scarab virus will be started every time the computer boots. It may also prohibit the users from entering into the boot recovery menu. It can block the startup of certain services and applications as well. By hooking to system services and user-installed applications the Recme Scarab virus can harvest the user input and interaction in real time.
One of the most dangerous effects upon the target computers that an installed Recme Scarab virus can facilitate is a malicious network connection to hacker-controlled servers. They are used to spy on the victims, take over control of their machines and deploy other threats and additional modules.
Recme Scarab Virus -Encryption
The Recme Scarab virus launches its ransomware engine once all components have executed successfully. It uses a strong cipher that is shared with the previous versions and a built-in list of target data. An example one can include the following:
- Archives
- Documents
- Databases
- Images
- Videos
- Music
All victim files are renamed with the .recme extension which reads the following message:
====================================================================================================
HOW TO DECRYPT YOUR FILES
Your personal ID
6A0200000000000035858AE72592C99505310803530284C0E49FD8AF9EB9F87901A1C531B6377AD42FB576566748A91B2956
[redacted] ABA2DC929E4A511A47752FD5556FB9DC98A7E8ACAD8F4B44CE011F4967F672C8F5A5F3A6558DAE503006A47EE04130EA0E92
[redacted] DBAF8382C3D457F1924D6103A45FE06D831C30369AA60F31D89C00E26024ADFB05106FAEEA3F9A3F7DCE693213DEF3BA3AF6
[redacted] E148C8352FC89C70A1893E8ACD7D79B278D8FE544FE03C8DEF07Your files, documents, photo, databases and all the rest aren’t
are ciphered by the most reliable enciphering.
All information about clients and their personal data was uploaded.
You must have no illusion that you can get out of this situation without our help.
You have two choices:
1. Unsuccessful try to decrypt files and lose them along with the business.
2. Or write to us and pay for the decryption keys and back clients files and.
We are not going to destroy your business. We show the problem on real example.
ATTENTION! If you do not contact us within two days, the decryption keys will be destroyed and
we will send some of files to your clients with information about your disability. They will pay
instead of you or we will put all data on the network.
Don’t waste time, the cost directly depends on the time of contact with us.
———————————————————-
You will be able to restore files so:contact us by e-mail: recfiles@protonmail.com
* report your ID and we will switch off any removal of files
(if you don’t report your ID identifier within 48 hours, decrypt key will be lost)
* you send your ID identifier and 2 files, up to 1 MB in size everyone.
We decipher them, as proof of a possibility of interpretation.
also you receive the instruction where and how many it is necessary to pay.you pay and confirm payment.
after payment you receive the DECODER program. which you restore ALL YOUR FILES.———————————————————-
You have 48 hours on payment.
If you don’t manage to pay in 48 hours, then the price of interpretation increases twice.
The price increases twice each 48 hours.
To restore files, without loss, and on the minimum tariff, you have to pay within 48 hours.
Address for detailed instructions e-mail: recfiles@protonmail.com
* If you don’t waste time for attempts to decipher, then you will be able to restore all files in 1 hour.
* If you try to decipher – you can FOREVER lose your files.
* Decoders of other users are incompatible with your data as at each user unique key of encipheringIf it is impossible to communicate through mail
* Be registered on the website https://bitmsg.me (service online of sending Bitmessage)
* Write the letter to the address BM-2cTgGUjqALdcJp2kEhsgUUnhpFPgkikerB with the indication of your mail and
the personal identifier and we will communicate.———————————————————-
If you have no bitcoins
* Create Bitcoin purse: https://blockchain.info
* Buy Bitcoin in the convenient way
https://localbitcoins.com/ (Visa/MasterCard)
https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/ (Visa/MasterCard)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin (the instruction for beginners)– It doesn’t make sense to complain of us and to arrange a hysterics.
– Complaints having blocked e-mail, you deprive a possibility of the others, to decipher the computers.
Other people at whom computers are also ciphered you deprive of the ONLY hope to decipher. FOREVER.
– Just contact with us, we will stipulate conditions of interpretation of files and available payment,
in a friendly situation====================================================================================================
Remove Scarab Ransomware Virus and Restore .recme Files
If your computer got infected with the Scarab Ransomware ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this ransomware as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the ransomware and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.
Remove Recme Scarab Virus and Restore .recme Files
If your computer system got infected with the Recme Scarab ransomware virus, you should have a bit of experience in removing malware. You should get rid of this ransomware as quickly as possible before it can have the chance to spread further and infect other computers. You should remove the ransomware and follow the step-by-step instructions guide provided below.
Martin Beltov
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
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Step 1: Scan for Recme Scarab with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Ransomware Automatic Removal - Video Guide
Step 2: Uninstall Recme Scarab and related malware from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully delete most unwanted and malicious programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Recme Scarab on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- 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
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Recme Scarab there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Step 4: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Recme Scarab
Step 5: Try to Restore Files Encrypted by Recme Scarab.
Method 1: Use STOP Decrypter by Emsisoft.
Not all variants of this ransomware can be decrypted for free, but we have added the decryptor used by researchers that is often updated with the variants which become eventually decrypted. You can try and decrypt your files using the instructions below, but if they do not work, then unfortunately your variant of the ransomware virus is not decryptable.
Follow the instructions below to use the Emsisoft decrypter and decrypt your files for free. You can download the Emsisoft decryption tool linked here and then follow the steps provided below:
1 Right-click on the decrypter and click on Run as Administrator as shown below:
2. Agree with the license terms:
3. Click on "Add Folder" and then add the folders where you want files decrypted as shown underneath:
4. Click on "Decrypt" and wait for your files to be decoded.
Note: Credit for the decryptor goes to Emsisoft researchers who have made the breakthrough with this virus.
Method 2: Use data recovery software
Ransomware infections and Recme Scarab aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
Simply click on the link and on the website menus on the top, choose Data Recovery - Data Recovery Wizard for Windows or Mac (depending on your OS), and then download and run the tool.
Recme Scarab-FAQ
What is Recme Scarab Ransomware?
Recme Scarab is a ransomware infection - the malicious software that enters your computer silently and blocks either access to the computer itself or encrypt your files.
Many ransomware viruses use sophisticated encryption algorithms to make your files inaccessible. The goal of ransomware infections is to demand that you pay a ransom payment to get access to your files back.
What Does Recme Scarab Ransomware Do?
Ransomware in general is a malicious software that is designed to block access to your computer or files until a ransom is paid.
Ransomware viruses can also damage your system, corrupt data and delete files, resulting in the permanent loss of important files.
How Does Recme Scarab Infect?
Via several ways.Recme Scarab Ransomware infects computers by being sent via phishing emails, containing virus attachment. This attachment is usually masked as an important document, like an invoice, bank document or even a plane ticket and it looks very convincing to users.
Another way you may become a victim of Recme Scarab is if you download a fake installer, crack or patch from a low reputation website or if you click on a virus link. Many users report getting a ransomware infection by downloading torrents.
How to Open .Recme Scarab files?
You can't without a decryptor. At this point, the .Recme Scarab files are encrypted. You can only open them once they are decrypted using a specific decryption key for the particular algorithm.
What to Do If a Decryptor Does Not Work?
Do not panic, and backup the files. If a decryptor did not decrypt your .Recme Scarab files successfully, then do not despair, because this virus is still new.
Can I Restore ".Recme Scarab" Files?
Yes, sometimes files can be restored. We have suggested several file recovery methods that could work if you want to restore .Recme Scarab files.
These methods are in no way 100% guaranteed that you will be able to get your files back. But if you have a backup, your chances of success are much greater.
How To Get Rid of Recme Scarab Virus?
The safest way and the most efficient one for the removal of this ransomware infection is the use a professional anti-malware program.
It will scan for and locate Recme Scarab ransomware and then remove it without causing any additional harm to your important .Recme Scarab files.
Can I Report Ransomware to Authorities?
In case your computer got infected with a ransomware infection, you can report it to the local Police departments. It can help authorities worldwide track and determine the perpetrators behind the virus that has infected your computer.
Below, we have prepared a list with government websites, where you can file a report in case you are a victim of a cybercrime:
Cyber-security authorities, responsible for handling ransomware attack reports in different regions all over the world:
Germany - Offizielles Portal der deutschen Polizei
United States - IC3 Internet Crime Complaint Centre
United Kingdom - Action Fraud Police
France - Ministère de l'Intérieur
Italy - Polizia Di Stato
Spain - Policía Nacional
Netherlands - Politie
Poland - Policja
Portugal - Polícia Judiciária
Greece - Cyber Crime Unit (Hellenic Police)
India - Mumbai Police - CyberCrime Investigation Cell
Australia - Australian High Tech Crime Center
Reports may be responded to in different timeframes, depending on your local authorities.
Can You Stop Ransomware from Encrypting Your Files?
Yes, you can prevent ransomware. The best way to do this is to ensure your computer system is updated with the latest security patches, use a reputable anti-malware program and firewall, backup your important files frequently, and avoid clicking on malicious links or downloading unknown files.
Can Recme Scarab Ransomware Steal Your Data?
Yes, in most cases ransomware will steal your information. It is a form of malware that steals data from a user's computer, encrypts it, and then demands a ransom in order to decrypt it.
In many cases, the malware authors or attackers will threaten to delete the data or publish it online unless the ransom is paid.
Can Ransomware Infect WiFi?
Yes, ransomware can infect WiFi networks, as malicious actors can use it to gain control of the network, steal confidential data, and lock out users. If a ransomware attack is successful, it could lead to a loss of service and/or data, and in some cases, financial losses.
Should I Pay Ransomware?
No, you should not pay ransomware extortionists. Paying them only encourages criminals and does not guarantee that the files or data will be restored. The better approach is to have a secure backup of important data and be vigilant about security in the first place.
What Happens If I Don't Pay Ransom?
If you don't pay the ransom, the hackers may still have access to your computer, data, or files and may continue to threaten to expose or delete them, or even use them to commit cybercrimes. In some cases, they may even continue to demand additional ransom payments.
Can a Ransomware Attack Be Detected?
Yes, ransomware can be detected. Anti-malware software and other advanced security tools can detect ransomware and alert the user when it is present on a machine.
It is important to stay up-to-date on the latest security measures and to keep security software updated to ensure ransomware can be detected and prevented.
Do Ransomware Criminals Get Caught?
Yes, ransomware criminals do get caught. Law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, Interpol and others have been successful in tracking down and prosecuting ransomware criminals in the US and other countries. As ransomware threats continue to increase, so does the enforcement activity.
About the Recme Scarab Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this Recme Scarab how-to removal guide included, is the outcome of extensive research, hard work and our team’s devotion to help you remove the specific malware and restore your encrypted files.
How did we conduct the research on this ransomware?
Our research is based on an independent investigation. We are in contact with independent security researchers, and as such, we receive daily updates on the latest malware and ransomware definitions.
Furthermore, the research behind the Recme Scarab ransomware threat is backed with VirusTotal and the NoMoreRansom project.
To better understand the ransomware threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.
As a site that has been dedicated to providing free removal instructions for ransomware and malware since 2014, SensorsTechForum’s recommendation is to only pay attention to trustworthy sources.
How to recognize trustworthy sources:
- Always check "About Us" web page.
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