An Internet scam announcing pending federal charges on personal computers may be believed to be more credible in the wake of news reports on domestic government spying but it remains a scam, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Major Bruce Temple said the sheriff’s office fielded a report Thursday night that a county resident turned on her laptop to find a Department of Justice seal come up and further access to her computer blocked.

The message accompanying the logo claimed the owner of the computer had been viewing child pornography and would be charged. They would also have to pay a fee to have access to their computer restored, in this case a $300 fee paid via MoneyPak, which would release the victim’s financial card information.

The Department of Justice logo and accompanying message is delivered through a virus, Temple explained.

The victim in this case got someone to do the MoneyPak and the person who helped was bilked out of $300.

This is the second time a scam such as this has occurred in the county and the last victim was bilked out of $200.

Even in the wake of the news reports of the journalist phone records being seized and the National Security Agency doing surveillance of Verizon phones, these agencies don’t notify potential offenders this way. “The IRS will never go on a computer to tell you about money owed,” Temple said.

Temple is assigning the case to a detective. “We want to see if some of the things are traceable.”

Those who experience this scam should first disregard the notice of pending charges and the MoneyPak request, Temple said.

Instead they should notify law enforcement so an officer or detective can take a look at the screen. After law enforcement conducts an investigation the person should contact a qualified computer technician to address the virus, Temple said.