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Stop paying the recovery contact and stop sharing information or remote access. Contact the payment provider you used as soon as possible, preserve evidence, and check whether an official decryptor exists. These are two separate problems: a payment might be disputed, while files may or may not be recoverable. Neither outcome is guaranteed.
1. Stop the recovery scam and protect your accounts
Do not pay another fee, even if the person promises a refund, a new decryption key, or faster recovery. Do not give them passwords, verification codes, identity documents, wallet details, or remote access to your computer. The FTC warns that recovery scammers target people who have already lost money and may demand an upfront payment or financial information.
If the device may still be infected, do not use it to sign in to banking, email, or other sensitive accounts. From a separate, trusted device, change passwords that may have been exposed and turn on two-factor authentication. For an organization or a wider compromise, isolate affected systems where feasible and involve trusted incident-response help before restoring them.
2. Ask the payment provider about recovering the money
Contact the bank, card issuer, payment app, wire service, gift-card issuer, or cryptocurrency platform involved. Find its official support channel independently; do not use phone numbers or links sent by the scammer. Explain that the payment went to a recovery scammer and ask what stop-payment, dispute, recall, reversal, or fraud-report process applies to that payment type. Provide transaction details and follow the provider’s instructions promptly.
#1 Best Overall
- Slim durable design to help take your important files with you
- Vast capacities up to 6TB[1] to store your photos, videos, music, important documents and more
- Back up smarter with included device management software[2] with defense against ransomware
- Help secure your important files with password protection and hardware encryption
- 3-year limited warranty
A provider may be able to review the transaction, but a refund is not assured. The options depend on the payment method, timing, provider, and circumstances. Crypto transfers in particular should not be assumed reversible.
3. Preserve evidence before deleting or changing anything
Keep records that may help the payment provider, investigators, or a qualified responder understand what happened:
Rank #2
- SuperSpeed: A super-fast 64GB USB3.0 USB drive with read speed up to 150MB/S and write speed up to 80MB/S. It has super speed but DOESN'T overheat. Also available in a 128GB capacity. See the A+ comparison chart for details.
- Safety: It comes with A physical write-protect switch and can safely connect to any computer while the switch set to “Read-Only”. In the Protected mode, your data is safe from viruses, malware, data tampering and accidental deletion.
- High Endurance: This flash drive has higher performance and endurance/durability as it adopts A+ MLC memory chip compared with other USB flash drives which use TLC or QLC chips.
- Capacity: This listing is for the 64GB version. A 128GB option is also available. See the A+ comparison chart for details.
- Plug and Play: Simply plug the thumb drive into any USB port and then start data transfer and storage. It is compatible with USB 3.0/3.1 and USB 2.0 ports and works on Windows2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10/11/Server, Mac OS, and Linux. The default format is exFAT file system which allows individual files larger than 4 GB, but you can always re-format to FAT32.
- Messages, emails, call records, websites, phone numbers, and names used by the recovery contact.
- Receipts, transaction IDs, wallet addresses, and payment-provider correspondence.
- The ransom note and a record of which files are encrypted, including sample details requested by an official identification service.
- Relevant device or system evidence. Avoid deleting or overwriting material that could matter.
If this happened at work, follow the organization’s incident-response plan and get qualified help with evidence preservation rather than improvising on affected systems.
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4. Check whether an official decryptor exists
Use No More Ransom’s Crypto Sheriff to try to identify the ransomware and see whether a decryption solution is listed. The service accepts encrypted samples up to 1 MB and information from the ransom note. Review its current data-provisioning terms before submitting anything, and do not upload unrelated private documents.
Rank #3
- Slim durable design to help take your important files with you
- Back up smarter with included device management software[2] with defense against ransomware
- Help secure your important files with password protection and hardware encryption
- 3-year limited warranty
The lookup may not identify the variant, and identifying it does not mean a decryptor exists. There is no universal tool that decrypts every ransomware strain. A legitimate professional can assess options, but cannot honestly guarantee a working key or restored files. CISA and the FBI likewise warn that payment does not guarantee recovery; their joint #StopRansomware advisory says the agencies do not encourage paying a ransom because payment does not guarantee files will be recovered.
5. Report the ransomware and the recovery scam
In the United States, report ransomware to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a local FBI field office, or CISA. Report the recovery scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; you can also consider contacting your state attorney general. Keep the evidence you preserved available when making reports.
Rank #4
- Slim durable design to help take your important files with you
- Vast capacities up to 6TB[1] to store your photos, videos, music, important documents and more
- Back up smarter with included device management software[2] with defense against ransomware
- Help secure your important files with password protection and hardware encryption
- 3-year limited warranty
Outside the United States, use your country’s official cybercrime-reporting and consumer-protection channels. Reporting does not guarantee that money or files will be recovered, but it gives authorities information about the incident.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute6. Restore only from a clean source
For organizations, CISA advises restoring from offline, encrypted backups and taking care to avoid reinfecting restored systems. Consumers with valuable files should consult a reputable professional before attempting steps that could overwrite data. A new drive or general-purpose recovery program is not a ransomware decryptor.
Best Value
- Slim durable design to help take your important files with you
- Vast capacities up to 6TB[1] to store your photos, videos, music, important documents and more
- Back up smarter with included device management software[2] with defense against ransomware
- Help secure your important files with password protection and hardware encryption
- 3-year limited warranty
If you seek professional help, verify the responder independently and get written scope, fees, and privacy and evidence-handling terms. Be wary of anyone who guarantees decryption, demands another payment through an unusual method, or contacts you unsolicited with a promised refund or recovery. An upfront fee is not proof that a provider can restore your files.
Quick Recap
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