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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Jess Kinghorn

PSA: Don't execute PowerShell commands proffered by Steam forum randos, because it could infect your rig with a cryptominer

SPAIN - 2021/08/11: In this photo illustration, a Steam logo seen displayed on a smartphone and in the background.

Steam discussions can be the best route to a quick fix or otherwise answering your most burning gaming questions. These forums can also be a hive of scum and villainy. Case in point, bad actors have been taking to the Steam forums with fake fixes that end up installing cryptominers on your gaming PC.

An innocent Steam user will post on the discussion board, sharing an issue they're having with their game. A bad actor then replies in the thread, instructing the user to run PowerShell as an administrator, and then to enter a specific command. This will be presented as a fix, but executing the command will actually download and then launch an executable for an XMRig cryptominer.

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