In August 2026, I downloaded a cracked game and later noticed unfamiliar posts appearing on my Instagram story and being sent to people I know. There were also attempted Uber transactions on my account. I suspect the download contained an information stealer that may have accessed my Chrome data and saved sessions.
I ran one malware scanner that found 63 suspicious files, quarantined and deleted them, then used two other scanners that reported no remaining threats. I changed my passwords, but about a week later someone accessed Instagram again and repeated the same activity. I plan to sign out of all devices and change every important password again, but I'm not sure whether the computer is safe.
Would it be better to reset or reinstall the PC, even though I need to preserve family photos and currently don't have a USB drive? Is deleting the detected files and getting clean scan results enough, or should I assume the system is still compromised?
2 Answers
Use Microsoft Defender’s full scan and, if possible, its offline scan. Also check browser extensions, startup apps, installed programs, and saved passwords for anything unfamiliar. However, scanners can miss malware and cannot undo stolen cookies or credentials, so a clean reinstall is the safest conclusion after an info-stealer infection. You do not need to wait for a USB drive to secure your accounts—do that immediately from a separate device.
Treat the computer as compromised until you reinstall or reset it. An information stealer can take browser cookies and active login sessions, so changing a password alone may not be enough. From a different, trusted device, change your email password first, then your financial, social, shopping, and gaming passwords. Enable two-factor authentication, revoke active sessions, remove unknown recovery methods, and contact your bank or payment services about the attempted transactions.
Back up only personal files such as photos and documents after scanning them, and avoid copying programs, installers, browser profiles, or unknown files. Once your important data is safe, use Windows Reset this PC or, preferably, a clean installation. Multiple scanners reporting no threats is encouraging, but it cannot prove that every stolen session or persistence mechanism is gone.
I did change my passwords, but Instagram was accessed again about a week later. I’m going to sign out every device and change everything again after dealing with the computer.