Joseph Edwards, a 17-year-old college student who suffered from autism, hanged himself after receiving a ransomware scam.

Edwards received an email that alleged he had been spotted browsing illegal websites and needed to pay £100 (payable in Ukash electronic money) or face being prosecuted. The malware also locked his computer.

The A-level student's developmental disability likely made him more susceptible to thinking the scam email, supposedly sent from Cheshire police, was genuine, a coroner heard on Thursday.

"Joseph was subjected to a scam on the internet, a threatening, fake police link that was asking for money," his mother said in a statement. "He would have taken it literally because of his autism and he didn't want to upset Georgia [his sister] or me."

The scam email is thought to have originated in either the Ukraine or Romania. But it is hard to track down. The spam email, complete with Cheshire Police insignia, falsely claimed that indecent images had been found in the possession of the recipient.