Back in 2019, my family became victims of a ransomware attack that turned all our files and photos into .money files, and some into .RECO files. There's a text document stating I need to pay to get my files back, but I'm really unsure what to do to recover those precious family photos. Any advice on how to restore my files?
4 Answers
Check out the resource on No More Ransom. It's a site dedicated to helping ransomware victims. They provide tools and advice that might help you recover your files without paying the ransom. It's worth a shot!
You basically have three options here: pay a data recovery service which can be super pricey, pay the scammers (might work but sketchy), or wipe the drive and start fresh. With the time that’s passed, I suggest option three since it sounds like getting the photos back is a long shot.
Yeah, it's been years... Paying seems pointless, but those memories are important to me.
Try checking your computer's restore points if you can. Sometimes the files are recoverable if you hadn't overwritten everything since the attack. It's a long shot but worth a look!
What are restore points? I’ve never heard of that.
Changing the file extension back to .jpeg or .img might not work, but it's one of the common recommendations. Just know that a lot of ransomware is done pretty thoroughly. If you can't trust re-naming to work, it might be time to consider wiping the drive.
I tried that, but it didn't help at all.
Thanks! I'll try that out. Hope it works!