10/08/2026
A New Kind of “Hacked Computer” We’re Seeing
We’ve now had more than one recent case where a customer believed their computer had been hacked, and the situation turned out to be more serious than the usual “scammer scared me into letting them on my computer” story.
What we’re finding is persistent remote-access software installed on the computer.
Here’s why that matters:
A scammer may only need you to help them one time. They may ask you to install a “security tool,” click Yes on a Windows prompt, run a support program, or let them connect to “fix” a problem.
Once they are in, they can sometimes install legitimate remote-support software as a Windows service.
That means the program can start automatically with Windows and potentially allow future access without the customer knowingly starting another session.
The scary part is that programs such as ScreenConnect, AnyDesk, TeamViewer and similar tools are legitimate software used every day by real IT companies. The software itself is not necessarily malicious.
The problem is who installed it, where it connects, and whether you authorized it.
In one recent case, we found multiple separate remote-access installations on the same computer. Because we could no longer trust the existing Windows installation, we did not simply uninstall the programs and call it good.
Our process was:
- Clone the original drive before making changes
- Examine the old Windows installation offline
- Identify remote-access software and persistence
- Wipe the computer and clean-install Windows 11
- Restore only the customer’s personal data
- Scan the restored data again
- Remove remote-access installers that had been copied back through cloud storage
- Perform a final security verification before returning the computer
One important lesson: even after a clean Windows reinstall, an old malicious or unwanted installer can come back through OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, backups, or copied customer files.
That is why a proper cleanup should involve more than running an antivirus scan.
If someone calls claiming to be Microsoft, your bank, Amazon, PayPal, Geek Squad, McAfee, or another company and asks you to install software, press Windows+R, paste a command, or let them control your computer — stop and call someone you trust first.
If you think someone may have accessed your computer, don’t keep using it for banking or passwords until it has been checked.
Affordable Computer Repair
509 W Mission Ave, Bellevue
402-953-0001
We would rather answer a question for free than see someone lose access to their computer, email, or financial accounts.