I have an ASUS TUF A17 running Windows 11. Earlier today, search engines suddenly showed frequent "prove you're human" CAPTCHA challenges, and my browser incorrectly offered to translate a page from Maltese to English. The CAPTCHA issue stopped, but I ran a full Microsoft Defender scan afterward and it detected Trojan:Win32/Pomal!rfn.
The reported paths were inside my Recycle Bin:
C:$Recycle.BinS-1-5-21-232520811-1766774836-3477425985-1001$R5AR0UKFPSoftwareEGIbinEPackage.exe
and an embedded resource inside that executable. I quarantined the detection and am running Microsoft Safety Scanner as a second check.
I have not knowingly downloaded anything suspicious recently. My recent downloads and updates were a browser dark-mode extension, G-Helper, and Windows updates. I also recently used the laptop on a workplace Wi-Fi network. The computer had malware years ago, but Windows was professionally reinstalled afterward and repeated scans remained clean for a long time.
How can I determine whether this is a genuine infection or a false positive? Since Defender found the file in the Recycle Bin, is removing or emptying it enough, or should I take additional steps to verify that the system is clean?
5 Answers
The CAPTCHA prompts by themselves are not evidence that the workplace Wi-Fi infected the laptop. They can result from a shared public or corporate IP address being flagged by a search provider. Avoid entering credentials into unexpected CAPTCHA pages, but the standard image and checkbox challenges you described are generally unrelated to the Defender detection.
Both reported paths appear to refer to the same executable and an embedded resource inside it. Since the executable was already under C:$Recycle.Bin, it may have been a previously deleted file rather than something actively running. Let Defender quarantine or remove it, then empty the Recycle Bin and run another updated full scan. Also check Defender’s protection history for the action taken and whether it reports any other active threats.
The CAPTCHA behavior does not automatically point to malware. Search engines can temporarily challenge users because of activity from the same network or ISP, and browsers sometimes guess a page’s language incorrectly. Since those symptoms stopped, testing from a phone hotspot or another browser could help confirm it was network-related. The Defender detection should still be considered separately.
For a second opinion, you can submit a copy of the file to a reputable multi-engine malware scanner and compare the results. A detection from only one engine is more suggestive of a false positive, while many independent engines identifying it is more concerning. Do not restore or execute the quarantined file just to test it. If the file has already been removed, keep the Defender report and scan the system rather than trying to recover it.
You probably do not need to reinstall Windows based on this alert alone. First install all security updates, update Defender’s signatures, run a full scan, and run Microsoft Defender Offline if you want an additional check outside the normal Windows session. Review startup apps, browser extensions, and recently installed programs. A clean offline scan and no recurring detections would be reassuring; repeated detections of files outside the Recycle Bin would justify backing up personal documents and performing a clean installation.
That makes sense. I was mainly worried because the scan happened right after the CAPTCHA problem, but the file being in the Recycle Bin may explain why it was detected without anything currently running.