Kaspersky Lab researchers have detected a variation of the Svpeng Trojan that completely seized control of infected phones.

Kaspersky says it detected 91 percent of the infections within the United States.


Like other ransomware, the Svpeng trojan displays an FBI emblem and tells the user that U.S. law enforcement has detected "prohibited content" on the phone. It's just a ruse, but the ransom is real.

The hackers demand $200 to unlock the phone. The best outcome is to restore your phone from a backup.

The trojan not only locks you out of your phone, but also scans your phone for banking info.

If you haven't backed up your phone already, Google will restore all your apps but you will lose all personal files, photos, and settings. The Android Device Manager and most Android security apps can remotely wipe Android devices. You can also perform a hard reset.

The trojan is primarily being spread through fake porn sites, but it also uses SMS spam to spread the trojan.