My computer got hacked

[yugi8264]

So someone hacked my computer and has access to my paypal and person information as well as other people's information. He told me he used my ip address out of new york to gain access to your system 32 database. That person asked me for some money so I sent that person some money. I deleted all my information and reformated my computer. Then, I changed all my password. Am I safe in anyway or am I still screwed. What are my options now.

[amusedschrodinger]

Cops?

[PineyCreek]

system32 DB?  Sounds more like you got trolled for money.  Check your credit report, etc.  Paypal's usually on the ball about detecting improper access.  Also, if they had access to your Paypal account, why would they ask for money when they could just send it from Paypal to whatever shell account they had?

[vanished]

Sounds awfully suspicious to me.  "access to your system 32 database" sounds like something a tech support scammer would say, or an edgy 12 year old with no tech skills.  Furthermore, and as mentioned already, if they actually had all your personal info, they could just do what they want, no need to ask you to send money.  They probably never had any access to begin with and just wanted to scare you.

[yugi8264]

4 minutes ago, TheShawnMiranda said:

If they had your info, what would stop them from sending money themselves instead of asking you for it?

they did have access but they didn't send money to themselves which I found weird. i found out they had access to my paypal after I saw a strange transaction and paypal text messages. I think that person was using a vpn of some sort. I basically paypal $150. Should I have not done that or just contact paypal now. Not sure what to do

[Chronified]

-coughs- just gonna place this here

 

 

[PineyCreek]

2 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

they did have access but they didn't send money to themselves which I found weird. i found out they had access to my paypal after I saw a strange transaction and paypal text messages. I think that person was using a vpn of some sort. I basically paypal $150. Should I have not done that or just contact paypal now. Not sure what to do

Paypal and/or credit card charge back maybe depending on the circumstances/country/bank.  Or just write it off as an moderately expensive lesson learned.

[yugi8264]

1 minute ago, Chronified said:

-coughs- just gonna place this here

 

 

They were talking to me on discord and was able to tell me my street address and phone number and paypal password, etc. Should I just take this as a lesson learned or should I go to the bank and police.

[vanished]

8 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

they did have access but they didn't send money to themselves which I found weird. i found out they had access to my paypal after I saw a strange transaction and paypal text messages. I think that person was using a vpn of some sort. I basically paypal $150. Should I have not done that or just contact paypal now. Not sure what to do

Well then there was no reason to send them money.  They could have done whatever they liked anyway, both before and after

3 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

They were talking to me on discord and was able to tell me my street address and phone number and paypal password, etc. Should I just take this as a lesson learned or should I go to the bank and police.

They may have helped you out if some money was stolen but given that you sent it to them, they probably won't refund it.  Still wouldn't hurt to report this though.

[Chronified]

5 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

They were talking to me on discord and was able to tell me my street address and phone number and paypal password, etc. Should I just take this as a lesson learned or should I go to the bank and police.

Street address and phone number were probably found on Google somewhere.

Here in Canada we have Canada 411

It can;

Name to Number and Address

Number to Name and Address

Address to Name and Number

 

as for your password, check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ 

 

If you reformatted your PC, there's nothing they can do to you now even if they had remote access into your PC before. It wouldn't hurt to run a Malwarebytes scan if you wiped your PC using the recovery partition instead of formatting and using an official ISO though. 

 

As for PayPal, just call up their tech support /  customer service @ 1 (402) 935-2050 and say there was an unauthorized payment on your account, they'll change your password for you and reverse the charges. 

 

 

 

[PineyCreek]

4 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

They were talking to me on discord and was able to tell me my street address and phone number and paypal password, etc. Should I just take this as a lesson learned or should I go to the bank and police.

Lots of public information is freely available.  You changed your passwords, yes?  Possible they actually did get into your Paypal account and looked at your address.  Or perhaps some other retailer/site you did business with was hacked.  If you're in the US you can file a report online via the FBI's computer crimes site, but likely nothing will come of it.  I would also report it to whichever institution sent the payment (or that paypal pulled the payment from) so it can be flagged.

[yugi8264]

Just now, Chronified said:

Street address and phone number were probably found on Google somewhere.

Here in Canada we have Canada 411

It can;

Name to Number and Address

Number to Name and Address

Address to Name and Number

 

as for your password, check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ 

 

If you reformatted your PC, there's nothing they can do to you now even if they had remote access into your PC before. It wouldn't hurt to run a Malwarebytes scan if you wiped your PC using the recovery partition instead of formatting and using an official ISO though. 

 

As for PayPal, just call up their tech support and say there was an unauthorized payment on your account, they'll change your password for you and reverse the charges. 

 

 

 

I ran an exe file which was probably how they got access to my accounts but strangely enough they didn't just try to send money. They have my address from paypal should I be worried that he will use my street address for something and paypal had my ssn. At this point should I report this to the police. Not sure what to do. 

[Chronified]

Just now, yugi8264 said:

I ran an exe file which was probably how they got access to my accounts but strangely enough they didn't just try to send money. They have my address from paypal should I be worried that he will use my street address for something and paypal had my ssn. At this point should I report this to the police. Not sure what to do. 

Change the password on the PP account now that your computer is reformatted, change the password of any other account using that password, report to paypal if you want your $$ back

[vanished]

1 minute ago, yugi8264 said:

I ran an exe file which was probably how they got access to my accounts but strangely enough they didn't just try to send money. They have my address from paypal should I be worried that he will use my street address for something and paypal had my ssn. At this point should I report this to the police. Not sure what to do. 

Yeah that'll do it.  Well, mystery solved at least.  Also, it's not really a "hack" then, since they didn't break in through any security, they just tricked you into inviting them in the front door.  Still, yes, report it.

[yugi8264]

5 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Yeah that'll do it.  Well, mystery solved at least.  Also, it's not really a "hack" then, since they didn't break in through any security, they just tricked you into inviting them in the front door.  Still, yes, report it.

since I deleted every single through os reformat, is it possible for them to hack my computer again

[vanished]

Just now, yugi8264 said:

since I deleted every single through os reformat, is it possible for them to hack my account again

Not using the original method, but they could have potentially grabbed login details to anything you had stored so I'd make sure you change all those.

[yugi8264]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Not using the original method, but they could have potentially grabbed login details to anything you had stored so I'd make sure you change all those.

I just changed every email that was relevant and told my family members to change their info.

[vanished]

Just now, yugi8264 said:

I just changed every email that was relevant and told my family members to change their info.

If there are other computers on the network and you think there's a chance it could have spread to them, you'll need to format all machines simultaneously to get rid of it or it'll just keep re-spreading from infected machines.

[Lemtea]

Just thought I would add, enable two factor authentication on all accounts that contain important info. It could potentially protect you from an attack like this.

[yugi8264]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

If there are other computers on the network and you think there's a chance it could have spread to them, you'll need to format all machines simultaneously to get rid of it or it'll just keep re-spreading from infected machines.

I was using my schools computer but it was automatically deleted and there was no network that was used besides my computer and a tv box. Would my cellphone count. But this was all done before I reformatted my computer.

[vanished]

Just now, yugi8264 said:

I was using my schools computer but it was automatically deleted and there was no network that was used besides my computer and a tv box. Would my cellphone count. But this was all done before I reformatted my computer.

Sorry I don't quite follow, how does the school computer factor into all of this?  Did this happen at home or at school?  No, phone wouldn't be involved unless this was even more sophisticated than it would already have to be just to jump systems, which is most likely more than it was.

[yugi8264]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Sorry I don't quite follow, how does the school computer factor into all of this?  Did this happen at home or at school?  No, phone wouldn't be involved unless this was even more sophisticated than it would already have to be just to jump systems, which is most likely more than it was.

I was trying to download it in school. I was trying to buy this person online account and was sent an exe and I thought it was weird as it should have been a txt. So I downloaded it in school but it was detected as a virus and was automatically deleted.

[vanished]

Just now, yugi8264 said:

I was trying to download it in school. I was trying to buy this person online account and was sent an exe and I thought it was weird as it should have been a txt. So I downloaded it in school but it was detected as a virus and was automatically deleted.

Ah ok.  And then you tried again at home where it did work?

[yugi8264]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Ah ok.  And then you tried again at home where it did work?

yes and a couple of day later or today he said so how is your sister doing and than proceeded to list my address and websites I was on.

[vanished]

2 minutes ago, yugi8264 said:

yes and a couple of day later or today he said so how is your sister doing and than proceeded to list my address and websites I was on.

Well, I'm sure it's now obvious in hindsight, but if you were expecting a txt and instead got a suspicious exe, it would be best to not run it, particularly if you've already seen it get flagged and deleted by an anti-virus program once before.