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Warning: That "free" antivirus software on my laptop was actually mining crypto the whole time
Found out last Wednesday when my electric bill spiked $40 and my PC fan sounded like a jet engine, then a buddy from my shop ran a scan and showed me the hidden miner - has anyone else caught their PC doing shady stuff like this?
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drew_park3d ago
That $40 spike is actually on the low end for a miner running full tilt 24/7. My buddy over at a small repair shop in Portland told me he saw one guy's electric bill jump nearly $90 in a month because his kid downloaded a "free game" that had a miner hidden in the installer. The worst part is these things can cook your CPU or GPU over time too, not just drain your wallet. The fan sounding like a jet engine is usually the first giveaway most people ignore until their hardware starts crashing or they spot the heat damage. Did you check if the miner was set to only run when your PC was idle or if it was going all day long?
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Wait, so your laptop was working a second job without telling you? That's almost impressive in a scummy way. I've had Chrome eat my RAM for breakfast, but a full-on crypto mining operation running silent in the background is next level. Your PC probably thinks it's paying off its own electricity bill now. At least it wasn't mining for something dumb like Dogecoin, though I bet your electric company loved that $40 spike.
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