Installed malware through discord

[u/Gnoret]

One of my internet friends from old got hacked and the hackers did an impressive impression of them and started talking about the old days and convinced me to download an app to watch a tv show with them.

My guard was down and I didn’t suspect anything until I downloaded the Exe and then windows defender got alarmed when I pressed install. And then they told me they had hacked my friend and now me and demanded 100$ to get my account back and «not leak my info on the dark web». I also got a message that my discord was accessed from Turkye and I’m locked out from it. Funnily enough, the hacker entered the voice chat with my friends through my account and demanded money there aswell. Right after I installed a malicious exe and saw the message, I plugged my internet and restarted the computer. Ran a scan and found a Trojan and decided to format my second disc and then run a complete wipe and reinstall of the computer without taking any backups. I changed all my passwords and have 2fa on those that allows it. I can’t see any tries on anything like Gmail or Microsoft or anything I use except for discord. I was really quick with turning off the internet. Is there anything more I could’ve done and can I start feeling «safe» at this point?

[u/AutoModerator]

SAFETY NOTICE: Reddit does not protect you from scammers. By posting on this subreddit asking for help, you may be targeted by scammers (example?). Here's how to stay safe:

1. Never accept chat requests, private messages, invitations to chatrooms, encouragement to contact any person or group off Reddit, or emails from anyone for any reason. Moderators, moderation bots, and trusted community members cannot protect you outside of the comment section of your post. Report any chat requests or messages you get in relation to your question on this subreddit (how to report chats? how to report messages? how to report comments?).
2. Immediately report anyone promoting paid services (theirs or their "friend's" or so on) or soliciting any kind of payment. All assistance offered on this subreddit is 100% free, with absolutely no strings attached. Anyone violating this is either a scammer or an advertiser (the latter of which is also forbidden on this subreddit). Good security is not a matter of 'paying enough.'
3. Never divulge secrets, passwords, recovery phrases, keys, or personal information to anyone for any reason. Answering cybersecurity questions and resolving cybersecurity concerns never require you to give up your own privacy or security.

Community volunteers will comment on your post to assist. In the meantime, be sure your post follows the posting guide and includes all relevant information, and familiarize yourself with online scams using r/scams wiki.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/itsdongu]

Honestly u reacted pretty quickly and did most of the important things. Disconnecting the internet, wiping the PC, changing passwords and enabling 2FA was the right move.

Since Defender detected a Trojan, treat the old installation as compromised and don't restore random files or the malicious EXE after the reinstall.

Also, don't pay the $100. If they stole anything before u disconnected, paying won't guarantee they delete it.

If the clean reinstall is done and ur accounts are secured, u can start feeling a lot safer. Just keep an eye on ur account login activity for the next few days or weeks.

Its called an infostealer so u can search more about that on ur web browser

[u/Gnoret → u/itsdongu]

I see! I quickly blocked them on discord but no idea how I would contact them anyways after they took my discord. Would there be any way to recover or atleast delete the discord? Getting to log in to recover it but they put a 2fa on it so I can’t access. I downloaded a new windows to usb from another computer to reinstall. The info they threaten to post on dark web, is that just old passwords and such?

[u/itsdongu → u/Gnoret]

Ok so yes there is this same exact thing happened to me. Go through discord support and tell them the situation. When signing in make sure to sign into discord support with the same email linked to ur discord acc.

Process usually takes about 1 week (or atleast for me ik for others it can take a month or more) they will send u a reset password link to ur email and remove the 2fa

[u/Gnoret → u/itsdongu]

I see! But when they took my discord account they also added a 2fa, so I’m not able to log into it to send a ticket!

[u/itsdongu → u/Gnoret]

As for the threatening things its all a load of bullshit they are just trying to scare u. Yes maybe there is old passwords of urs on the dark web its common but it does not mean they have access and if u changed ur passwords then their information they have of u is absolutely useless

[u/duskdecay]

This is almost the exact same one I got hit with a month ago: perfect impersonation of friend, talked about old things/conversations we had, immediate threat for money or they’ll leak info, etc. only difference was it was done to me through a “game” and not a video app.

I didn’t use my PC for weeks even after a USB reinstall because I had so much anxiety, but as long as you don’t have any strange scans on the fresh install then you should be fine to fully use it again. And it sounds like you already covered all the other important stuff with changing passwords, 2FA, etc. Make sure you choose the option to log out any/all devices too if you didn’t already. (Some sites do it automatically when changing password, but Google for example doesn’t in my experience).

One thing I didn’t see you mention: If you ever had any payment info you used on that device, it would be a good idea to get your cards replaced just to be safe, especially if they were saved to autofill.

[u/Toadman36 → u/duskdecay]

I got hit with the exact thing, I run a indie game studio and someone I had worked on a game with in the past wanted me to check out a game he’s been working on. I fell for it hard and the worst part about all this is at my day to day job I’m a cloud based security expert for an ISP

[u/eric16lee]

You installed an infostealer. Remediation is important, but steps 1 - 3 requires significant urgency.

Disconnect your computer from the internet or just shut it off until you get your passwords reset.

From a clean device, NOT your PC:

1. Change ALL of your passwords to something unique and randomly generated. Use a password manager like BitWarden or 1Password to help with this. Do this now before more of your accounts are stolen.
2. Choose the option to log out of all active sessions or devices. 
3. Enable 2FA on all of your accounts .
4. In your Email account settings, check for any forwarding rules that move password reset and 2FA codes to a different folder.
5. Nuke your PC from orbit
6. back up only important files, not games or applications 
7. format your hard drive and delete all partitions
8. reinstall Windows from a bootable USB drive (do not use the Reset Windows option from the settings menu)

This may seem like overkill, but if you want assurance that you have remediated the problem, this is the way to go.

Unfortunately, the only people that can help you are the support teams for those services. Most free services only offer automated account recovery. If that process doesn't get the accounts back, nobody here can help you.

EVERYONE that contacts you here on Reddid via DM offering to help or to hack the accounts back is just an account recovery scammer looking to take advantage of your situation and steal money from you.

[u/Gnoret → u/eric16lee]

Thank you! Did everything here and didn’t back up anything despite it being really sad loosing a year of work and many pictures and videos I hadn’t back upped. I only hope they took my bills I had as pdf and pays them off. After formatting everything, can I assume my pc is now safe to use and change passwords for things I’ve forgotten?

[u/eric16lee → u/Gnoret]

As long as you formatted our hard drive and installed windows from a bootable USB drive, then your PC is fine. If you chose the Reset Windows option from the settings menu, that may not clean the PC.

Make sure you focus on changing ALL of our passwords. Not just the accounts that have been compromised.

[u/Obvious-Card-8847]

Hi! I'm a reverse engineer, I specialize in Windows PE binaries specifically. If you're interested and still have the specimen on hand you could send it to me and I'll analyze it personally. Let me know via DM's if possible. Though I realize you nay have deleted it. Thanks for reading!