On Your Side Alert: Warning about Ransomware

Friday, May 17th, 2013, 11:15pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Crooks are hijacking computers with a scheme called Ransomware. If they gain access, they can lock your computer and make it appear you are in legal trouble and you need to pay a fine.

If you are victim of Ransomware, cyber criminals lock your machine and claim the only resolution is to pay up. Crooks usually disguise the message as if it's coming from a law enforcement agency, like the FBI. Cyber Expert, DJ Rivera, says it's happening more and more and people are falling for it. "You can get from a USB Stick, browsing some internet sites, from downloading files, photos, clicking links, there are basically just an infinite number of ways," Rivera says.

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12 INVESTIGATES: Contaminated calls

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Friday, May 17th, 2013, 5:01pm

These days practically everyone has a cell phone, and it goes everywhere you do.

But that also means it's picking up every germ you encounter, too.

"I carry my cell phone around," said dermatologist Dr. Laci Theunissen. "It's in my purse, my children are playing with it. I bring it to the bathroom sometimes, multi-tasking."

And that means some nasty little organisms may be hitchhiking from an unsanitary surface to your face.

"A lot of people don't think about it," Theunissen said.

To find out just what is lurking on that surface, cell phones were taken to a lab.

The phones were swabbed and the swabs were incubated for three days at 37 degrees Celsius - roughly body temperature - to see what would grow.

Streptococcus, as in strep throat, and staphylococcus, as in staph infection, along with a few other types of bacteria were found on all the phones we tested.

But there is good news.

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Powerball soars to $550 million

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 2:10pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- The next Powerball drawing will be for over half a billion dollars!

No one bought a ticket matching all the numbers in Wednesday night's drawing: 2, 11, 26, 34, 41 and a Powerball of 32.

Strong sales boosted the new pot to $550 million.

"It usually took a handful of months, if not several months, for a jackpot to reach this large amount," said Mary Neubauer, spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery. "Now it's achieving that within a handful of weeks. I think the redesign is achieving exactly what we had wanted it to achieve, which is the bigger, faster-growing jackpot."

The most recent major jackpot winning ticket went to a New Jersey man in March - he won $338.3 million, the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history.

Draw sales cut off at least 59 minutes before the draw, so grab your tickets early!

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State unveils six year road improvement plan

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 6:41pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Transportation officials unveiled the state's billion dollar plan for the roads you drive on every day. In the state's six year improvement plan, the Richmond area has dozens of projects on the list.

If you sometimes wish your interstate commute wasn't so congested or that state road wasn't so bumpy, Virginia leaders say they feel your pain and are ready to take action. Drivers say there's no time to wait.

"With the traffic in the evenings and mornings, it gets piled up and built up. You can barely get through there," says driver James Miles.

He is all too familiar with the headaches at I-64 near the Ashland Road exit heading from Goochland to the Short Pump area. That's where state leaders want to widen the interstate from four lanes to six.

"It's a lot easier. Who wants to wait in traffic and sit in traffic?" said Jeff Wise.

He manages an Exxon in that area.

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12 INVESTIGATES: Missing stimulus money?

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 5:15pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Half a million of your tax dollars was supposed to bring a plant and dozens of new jobs to Richmond's south side. A ground breaking was even held. The mayor was there, but three years later - no business, no jobs. What happened?

Shovel-ready jobs - that's what the U.S. Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was to bring.

"'Shovel-ready' was not as shovel-ready as we expected," said President Obama in 2011, during a press conference.

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PHOTOS: Cicadas invade Central VA

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 3:21pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Cicadas are beginning to pop up around Central Virginia, and viewers are sending in their pictures to our newsroom.

Click here to see the slideshow on your mobile device

Email your pictures to SendItTo12@nbc12.com and we'll add them to our gallery.

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12 INVESTIGATES: The dangers of energy drink abuse

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013, 11:15pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an investigation this month into the safety - and reported deaths - from energy drinks. They're looking into whether these drinks are linked to 18 deaths and more than a hundred injuries.

Student, Nakai Johnson is very familiar with monster energy drinks, "I have three 8 o'clock classes, so every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I'm drinking like two a day." She's never had a bad side effect, but there are plenty of people who say they have.

One teen's parents even filed a lawsuit. Anais Fournier died after reportedly drinking two Monsters within a 24-hour span. Her lawyer says the boost of caffeine turned an unknown heart condition deadly.

"You've got drug interactions. You've got genetic predispositions or underlying conditions. And all of that can add up," said Janet Starkey, registered Dietician at Virginia Commonwealth University.

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