How to remove the Lampion banking Trojan

What is Lampion?

Lampion is a malicious program, a banking Trojan which cyber criminals proliferate by sending emails. The messages contain a link that downloads an archive file (ZIP) containing malicious files. Since Lampion is a banking Trojan, cyber criminals have designed it to steal information that can be used to make fraudulent transactions, and other data.

The image below is a screenshot of an email that is used to trick people into infecting systems with Lampion, however, they might also use other templates. We strongly recommend that you ignore this email and do not open files that are downloaded through the included link.

Lampion overview

If the malicious URL within the email sent by cyber criminals is clicked, a ZIP file is downloaded. This contains a PDF document, .vbs (Visual Basic Script) and .txt (Text) files. If executed, the .vbs file downloads a number of other files named P-19-2.dll and 0.zip.

The P-19-2.dll file is the Lampion Trojan, a Dynamic-link library file responsible for stealing sensitive information and sending it to the Command & Control server controlled by cyber criminals/attackers. Lampion collects data from an infected system's clipboard and installed browsers.

Cyber criminals can also access information relating to victims and their systems such as operating system version, computer name, installed antivirus suite, country, and other details. By having access to the victim's clipboard, attackers can use Lampion to steal any information that is saved on it.

The saved data could be the password of a personal account or other sensitive details. Furthermore, this banking Trojan collects data from browsers such as logins, passwords, autofill data, and other sensitive information. These details can be misused to steal various accounts and clients.

For example, social media accounts, email clients, banking-related accounts, and so on. Typically, cyber criminals use them to generate revenue by making fraudulent transactions, purchases, proliferating other malware (e.g., ransomware), etc. If you believe that Lampion (or other malware) is already installed on the operating system, remove it immediately.

Examples of similar malware

Other examples of banking Trojans include Mispadu, Bolik and Casbaneiro.

Typically, cyber criminals who seek to trick people into infecting their computers with such programs have one main goal: to steal as much sensitive information as possible. In many cases, victims experience financial loss, have their identities stolen, encounter problems relating to privacy, browsing safety, and so on.

How did Lampion infiltrate my computer?

This particular Trojan is distributed through emails. I.e., via web links that download a ZIP file that contains malicious files. If executed, one of these files (Visual Basic Script) starts the infection chain of Lampion malware. Cyber criminals commonly proliferate malicious software by sending emails containing malicious files or web links.

More examples of files that they often attach are Microsoft Office Documents, JavaScript files and executable files (.exe). None of these attachments can do any damage/install malware if recipients leave them unopened.

How to avoid installation of malware

If an email is received from a dubious web address, is irrelevant and contains an attachment (or website link), it should not be trusted. The best way to avoid damage caused by such emails is to ignore them and leave their contents unopened. Furthermore, all software should be downloaded via direct links and from trustworthy, official websites.

We advise against downloading files and programs from unofficial pages, through Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), third party downloaders, etc. Third party installers cannot be trusted. Installed programs should be updated with tools or functions that are designed by official developers.

It is not safe to use third party, fake updaters. The same applies to activation of licensed software. Note also that it is illegal to activate software with 'cracking' (unofficial) tools. Have a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware suite installed and scan the operating system with it regularly.

If you believe that your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text in an email used to trick people into installing Lampion:

Se não está visualizando clique aqui

 

Estimado Contribuinte: SITUAÇÃO IRREGULAR

O sistema detectou e gerou um alerta sobre um débito - ano 2018 -
Este email foi gerado durante o processo de emissão da factura
electrónica para o lado negativo e remetido para você de acordo
com a legislação em vigor. Ao mesmo tempo, indicamos que os endereços
electrónicos dos destinatários de e-mails são obtidos, exclusivamente,
de bases de dados AT e não são divulgados a terceiros.

Leia com atenção:

O prazo para entrega da Declaração de Rendimentos, de Imposto sobre o
Rendimento das Pessoas Singulares (IRS) - Modelo 3, decorre de 1 de abril a 30 de
junho. É neste período que são entregues as declarações relativas aos rendimentos
do ano anterior e a outros elementos informativos relevantes para a sua concreta
situação tributária. A informação constante das declarações submetidas É validada
pela Administração Tributária e Aduaneira (AT). Após a entrega da declaração, caso
receba um alerta com a designação de Divergência, isso significa que AT detetou,
nos dados que declarou, um ou mais valores de Rendimentos, Retenções na Fonte, e/ou
Deduções diferentes do(s) que consta(m) na base de dados.

Mantenha atualizados os seus dados pessoais no Portal das Finanças e fiabilize
os seus contactos (e-mail e telefone) para receber informação de apoio ao
cumprimento das suas obrigações fiscais e aduaneiras.
O arquivo XML correspondente a esta factura está no anexo.
 
Você pode verificá-lo através do site do Portal AT com o ID abaixo.

 
CONSULTAR DIVERGÊNCIA N: AT-OBV5GJUO .( 5Kb)
 
Atte: Direção de Serviços de Comunicação

17/01/2020 06:25:52 - Portal AT Resolução:AT-OBV5GJUO

1997 - 2019 AT © Todos os direitos reservados

Update May 12, 2020 - After a several months hiatus Lampion trojan is back in business. Cyber criminals started a number of various spam campaigns (most relating to bank invoices, notifications, etc.) encouraging users to open attachments or visit certain websites. A number of malicious websites were also developed to spread this malware.

List of cryptocurrency and bank websites targeted by Lampion:

• Aplicativo bradesco
• BANRITRAVAR
• BPI
• BPI Net
• Banco BPI
• Banco Original
• Banco bradesco
• Banco do Brasil
• Banco montepio
• Banking bnb
• Bankinter
• CA Empresas
• CGD
• Caixa Economica
• Caixadirecta
• Caixadirecta Empresas
• Citibank
• Crédito Agrícola
• EuroBic
• Login Page
• Mercado Bitcoin
• Millenniumbcp
• Montepio
• NOVO BANCO
• Navegador exclusivo
• Nercado bitcoin
• Santander
• TravaBB
• TravaBitco

Update October 30, 2025 - New distribution tactics include using ZIP attachments that contain HTML with redirects, employing a ClickFix social‑engineering lure where victims are asked to paste commands, and adding persistence mechanisms in the Visual Basic Script (VBS) to make the malware harder to remove.

The final payload is now delivered as a single large DLL file (instead of multiple files) to make analysis difficult. The infrastructure uses different cloud hosts, redirection, and IP blacklisting to evade detection and analysis.

How to remove malware manually?

Most trojan infections can be removed by running a full system scan with Combo Cleaner. The full manual procedure below is for cases where automatic removal failed, where you want to verify a scan caught everything, or where the threat has multiple persistence points.

Tools you'll need

Combo Cleaner Antivirus 7-days free trial

Recommended primary scanner. VB100 certified. The 7-day free trial is available.

Microsoft Defender Offline Free · built-in

Built into Windows. Boots to a clean environment to catch rootkits.

Process Explorer Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Better than Task Manager - shows full paths and signatures.

Autoruns Free

From Microsoft Sysinternals. Lists every place malware can persist on your system.

Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT) Free

Official Microsoft on-demand scanner. Always-current signatures - expires every 10 days.

Phase 1~ 5 min

Contain - limit the damage

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1

Disconnect from the network

30 secNo tool needed

Unplug your Ethernet cable and turn off Wi-Fi. If you're on a laptop, the airplane-mode key works fastest.

Why this matters

Many trojans exfiltrate data - saved browser passwords, banking sessions, screenshots - and accept remote commands. Cutting the network stops both immediately. Keep it disconnected until Phase 4.

2

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking

3 min

Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and stops most malware from auto-running. "With Networking" lets you download tools - re-enable Wi-Fi only after you've booted in.

Windows 11

Open Settings → System → Recovery. Click Restart now next to Advanced startup.

Your computer will restart into the "Choose an option" menu. Click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. After the second reboot, press 5 or F5.

Windows 10

Click the Windows logo, hold Shift, click the Power icon and choose Restart. In the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart. Press F5.

Windows 8

Go to the Start Screen, type Advanced, select Settings → Advanced startup options → Restart now → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup settings → Restart → F5.

Note: Windows 8 reached end-of-life in January 2023 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Windows 7

Click Start → Shut Down → Restart → OK. As the system boots, press F8 repeatedly until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, then choose Safe Mode with Networking.

Note: Windows 7 reached end-of-life in January 2020 - running on it puts you at much higher risk of reinfection.

Phase 2~ 15 min

Identify - find what's hiding

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3

Inspect running processes with Process Explorer

Tool: Process Explorer5 min

Download Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals. Run it as Administrator. Click Options → Verify Image Signatures and View → Lower Pane View → DLLs.

Sort by "Verified Signer." Anything unsigned running from %AppData%, %LocalAppData%, %Temp%, or %ProgramData% is suspicious. Right-click → Properties to see the full image path. Right-click → "Search Online" to look up unfamiliar process names.

Why not just Task Manager

Task Manager hides full file paths, doesn't show digital signatures, and groups processes in ways that make malware easy to miss. Process Explorer is the same tool Microsoft engineers use.

4

Map every persistence point with Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns 14.x10 min

Download Autoruns. Right-click Autoruns.exe and choose Run as administrator - without elevation, Autoruns can't inspect protected registry hives.

In the menu, open Options → Hide Microsoft Entries and Options → Hide Empty Locations, then click Refresh.

Modern trojans don't just live in startup. Walk through these tabs and look for unsigned or unfamiliar entries:

• Logon - classic Run/RunOnce keys
• Scheduled Tasks - frequent hiding spot, especially tasks with PowerShell, MSHTA, or rundll32 actions
• Services - unsigned services in non-Microsoft folders
• WMI - Event Subscriptions are a stealthy persistence mechanism (MITRE T1546.003)
• Image Hijacks - Image File Execution Options "Debugger" abuse
• AppInit - DLLs loaded into every GUI process
• Browser plug-ins - unsigned add-ons across all installed browsers

Pro tip

Right-click any suspicious entry → "Jump to Image" to see the actual file. Right-click → "Search Online" opens VirusTotal for the file hash. Don't delete yet - just write down the file paths and entry names. We'll remove them after the scans.

5

Check the hosts file and DNS settings

3 minBuilt into Windows

Trojans often redirect bank, antivirus, and update domains to attacker-controlled servers by editing the hosts file or DNS settings.

Hosts file: Open Notepad as Administrator and open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Legitimate entries are commented with #. Any uncommented IP-to-domain mapping is suspicious - especially redirects for microsoft.com, windowsupdate, or your bank.

DNS settings: Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run ipconfig /all. Confirm your DNS servers point to your ISP, your router, or a known public resolver (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Google 8.8.8.8). Then open Settings → Network & internet → [your adapter] → DNS server assignment and verify both DNS and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) settings haven't been hijacked.

Why this matters

A clean PC with hijacked DNS is still a compromised PC. You'll think you're at chase.com and you'll be at the attacker's clone.

Phase 3~ 60-90 min

Remove - three scans, one cleanup

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No single antivirus catches everything. The order below is intentional: offline scan first (catches rootkits before Windows fully loads), then on-demand scanners on the running system, then manual cleanup of anything they missed.

6

Run Microsoft Defender Offline

Tool: Built into Windows15 min

Reboot to normal Windows. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options. Select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and click Scan now. Your computer will restart into a stripped-down environment and scan before the full operating system loads.

Why this comes first

Rootkits and bootkits hide from any scanner running on the same Windows session that's already infected. A pre-boot offline scan sees the disk before the malware can hide itself.

Recommended antivirus

Combo Cleaner

VB100 certified. Includes anti-trojan, registry/persistence scanning, anti-spyware in one pass. The 7-day free trial is available.

Download Combo Cleaner

7

Run Combo Cleaner full system scan

Tool: Combo Cleaner20-40 min

Install Combo Cleaner and run a full system scan (not the quick scan). Let it complete fully, review the detected threats, and apply the recommended actions. Combo Cleaner will quarantine known trojans and registry persistence.

8

Run Microsoft Safety Scanner as a second-opinion scan

Tool: Microsoft Safety Scanner15 min

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT.exe), Microsoft's free on-demand tool. The binary expires every 10 days, which means every download has the latest signatures. Run a full scan after Combo Cleaner to catch anything one engine alone might miss.

Why a second scan

Different scanning engines catch different threats. Running an additional Microsoft scan after Combo Cleaner is the single most underused verification step in malware removal.

9

Manually remove anything still listed in Autoruns

Tool: Autoruns10 min

Reopen Autoruns. Anything you flagged in Step 4 that's still present hasn't been caught by the automated scans. For each remaining suspicious entry: right-click → Delete in Autoruns (this removes the persistence registration), then navigate to the file path and delete the actual file. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Important

Some malware files reappear after deletion because something else on the system recreates them. If you delete a file and it returns within minutes, you have a remaining persistence point that Autoruns didn't show - usually a service or scheduled task running under SYSTEM. Re-run the scans from Steps 6-8 or proceed to a clean install (see end of guide).

Phase 4~ 15 min

Recover - restore browsers and security

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10

Reset browsers and clear notification permissions

5 min

Trojans and adware frequently hijack browsers - change the default search engine, install rogue extensions, or grant themselves notification permissions to keep displaying scam pop-ups even after the malware is gone.

• Chrome: visit chrome://settings/reset and click "Restore settings to their original defaults." Then visit chrome://settings/content/notifications and remove any unfamiliar sites.
• Edge: visit edge://settings/reset. Then check edge://settings/content/notifications.
• Firefox: open about:support and click Refresh Firefox (Firefox uses "Refresh," not "Reset"). Then check Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions → Notifications.

Review installed extensions in each browser and remove anything you don't recognize, especially extensions you didn't install yourself.

11

Re-enable Defender, Tamper Protection, and update everything

10 min

Many trojans disable security software. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings and confirm Real-time protection, Cloud-delivered protection, and Tamper Protection are all turned on. Tamper Protection prevents malware from disabling Defender silently.

Then run Windows Update (Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates) and update your browsers and applications. The infection vector that let the trojan in originally usually involves outdated software.

Phase 5~ 15 min + 7 days

Verify & secure

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12

Change passwords from a clean device

20 min⚠ Critical

If the trojan was an info-stealer (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar, and similar are extremely common), assume every password saved in your browser is compromised. Change them from a different, known-clean device - your phone is fine if it's not infected.

Recommended order:

1. Primary email first - it's the recovery hub for everything else
2. Banking and financial accounts
3. Password manager master password (if you use one)
4. Social media, shopping, and remaining accounts

Where available, enable phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (passkeys / FIDO2 hardware keys / authenticator apps) - SMS-based MFA is bypassable by sophisticated attackers.

13

Verify the clean and monitor for 7 days

5 min + 1 week monitoring

Reconnect to the network and run one final full scan with Combo Cleaner. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and switch to the Startup apps tab - confirm nothing suspicious has reappeared.

Over the next 7 days, watch for symptom recurrence: unexpected high CPU usage, unknown processes returning, browser redirects, or pop-ups. If anything returns, you missed a persistence point and the procedure needs to be repeated - or you may have a deeper compromise that requires a clean install.

When to clean install Windows instead

Manual removal isn't always the right answer. Reinstalling Windows from scratch is the only way to be 100% certain when:

• The malware reappears after every removal attempt
• A bootkit or UEFI rootkit was detected (this class of threat sits below the operating system and survives a normal Windows reinstall)
• A confirmed credential-theft trojan ran with administrator privileges (Lumma, RedLine, Vidar) - the system likely has multiple unknown payloads
• The PC is used for online banking, business email, or anything where partial doubt isn't acceptable

A clean install is a 30-60 minute process: Windows 11 reinstall via Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything → Cloud download. Back up documents to external storage first, scan the backup with Combo Cleaner before restoring it, and reinstall applications fresh - never restore them from a backup of the infected system.

Important: Manual removal requires advanced computer skills. If you're not confident identifying system files from malicious files, run an automated scan with Combo Cleaner and Windows Defender and stop there - that path catches the vast majority of consumer trojans without the risk of breaking Windows by deleting the wrong file.