I searched for a "Low Tier God wiki" page and clicked what appeared to be an official Know Your Meme result. Instead of opening the expected page, it redirected me to a suspicious .pl website. Strange images and other attention-grabbing content suddenly appeared, so I immediately shut down the computer. I don't remember downloading or opening any files, although I've heard the site may try to download one or two images or GIFs.
After restarting, the computer seemed normal. I ran a complete Windows antivirus scan, and it found nothing. However, the original site now redirects me to Twitter with a prewritten message claiming that I was hacked, which makes me worry that something may have been installed or changed.
How can I verify that my computer and browser are safe, and is it likely that simply visiting the redirected page infected me?
4 Answers
A site can be flagged as malicious, phishing-related, or simply designed to scare people, but that doesn’t automatically mean your computer was infected. The biggest risk would be downloading and executing a file, installing an extension, or entering passwords. Since you shut the computer down and your antivirus scan was clean, the odds of a serious infection are low.
Change passwords only if you entered them on the suspicious page or notice unusual account activity. Otherwise, avoid the site and clear that site’s browser data if you want to prevent the behavior from recurring.
If you were using a fully updated operating system and browser, getting infected from a redirect alone is very unlikely. Modern browsers generally require you to download and run something, approve a prompt, or install an extension before malware can do much. A frightening page or fake Twitter message is more likely to be a scare tactic than proof of an infection.
Still, run a full Windows Security scan, check your browser’s extensions for anything unfamiliar, and remove anything you don’t recognize. Using Firefox with uBlock Origin can also block many malicious ads and redirects.
The behavior sounds more like a malicious advertisement or prank page than a confirmed system compromise. The Twitter text is probably generated by the page to make visitors think they were hacked. Don’t revisit it, don’t download anything from it, and don’t interact with unexpected prompts.
For extra reassurance, you can run a second-opinion scan with Malwarebytes and then review your browser settings, downloads folder, and installed programs. Keep Windows, your browser, and security software updated.
Redirects like this can come from compromised pages or advertisements, so the fact that another person saw the same behavior suggests the page or ad network was responsible rather than your individual computer. If the issue stopped after leaving the page and there are no unknown extensions, pop-ups, account alerts, or performance problems, there probably isn’t an active infection.
The redirect may also have been fixed or removed since then. Either way, it’s best not to test it by visiting the page again; scan the computer and inspect the browser instead.