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Complete an Offer to Unlock Your Desktop Virus

Also Known As: Survey Ransomware
Damage level: High

What is Complete an Offer to Unlock Your Desktop?

"Complete an offer below to unlock your desktop" is a ransomware infection used by cyber criminals to coerce PC users into taking online surveys, thus making money from dubious affiliate networks.

This ransomware infection differs from others distributed - standard ransomware infections exploit the names of authorities (such as the FBI, Interpol, Federal Department, etc.), demanding payment of bogus fines for supposed law violations.

"Complete an offer to unlock your desktop", however, is a new approach to ransomware infections. This scam blocks computer users' desktops and attempts to coerce them into taking up online offers.

complete an offer below to unlock your desktop virus

If you see this type of screen-blocking on your desktop, do not participate in any offers, since they will encourage you to divulge your private data, subscribe to expensive mobile services, etc. Even if users do complete the offers, there is no guarantee that your desktop will be unblocked.

Cyber criminals distribute these screen lockers to earn revenue from deceptive affiliate networks who pay them for each user to take an online offer or complete an online survey. Avoid participating in such offers, since this is a scam. "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" is a ransomware infection and should be eliminated from your computer immediately.

"Your desktop was blocked. Complete an offer below to unlock your desktop" ransomware is proliferated using drive-by downloads, Trojans, and malicious websites.

The new monetization method makes this ransomware unique, and whereas previous ransomware infections used MoneyPak or PaySafeCard pre-payed cards for money transactions, this variant uses online surveys and offers to win affiliate revenues. Avoid infiltration by this and other ransomware infections by using legitimate antivirus and anti-spyware programs.

If your computer desktop is already locked by this ransomware, use the removal guide provided to unlock your PC and eliminate this scam.

A message presented by the "Complete an offer below to unlock your desktop" virus:

Unlock this Page to Continue!
This page will immediately unlock and restore normal access upon your participation in an offer below. Please use valid information!Your desktop was locked. Complete an offer below to unlock your desktop!Your desktop was locked. Complete an offer below to unlock your desktop!Complete an offer to continue.

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Quick menu:

"Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus removal:

Step 1

Start your computer in Safe Mode. Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer starting process press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see the Windows Advanced Option menu, then select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

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Video showing how to start Windows 7 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

Step 2

Log in to the account infected with "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus. Start your Internet browser and download a legitimate anti-spyware program. Update the anti-spyware software and start a full system scan. Remove all entries detected.


After completing these steps your computer should be clean. Reboot your computer in Normal Mode.

Alternative "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus removal guide:

If this ransomware blocks your screen when you start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking, try starting your PC in Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

1. During your computer starting process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then select Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list and press ENTER.

win 7 safe mode with command prompt

2. In the opened Command Prompt, type explorer and press Enter. This command will open the Explorer window - do not close it and continue to the next step.

3. In the Command Prompt, type regedit and press Enter. This will open the Registry Editor window.

4. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

registy editor winlogon

5. In the right side of the window, locate "Shell" and right click on it. Click on Modify. The default value in the Data column is Explorer.exe - if you see something else displayed in this window, remove it and type Explorer.exe (take a note of whatever else was displayed in the Data column - this is the path of the rogue execution file). Use this information to navigate to the rogue executable and remove it.

6. Restart your computer, download and install legitimate anti-spyware software and perform a full system scan to eliminate any remnants of "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus.

If you cannot start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking (or with Command Prompt), boot your computer using a rescue disk. Some variants of ransomware disable Safe Mode, making its removal more complicated. For this step, you need access to another computer.

After removing the "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus from your PC, restart your computer and scan it with legitimate antispyware software to remove any possible remnants of this security infection.

Other tools known to remove teh "Complete an offer to unlock your desktop" virus:

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

PCrisk security portal is brought by a company RCS LT. Joined forces of security researchers help educate computer users about the latest online security threats. More information about the company RCS LT.

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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Survey Ransomware QR code
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