Many users are clearly eager to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto V, even more so when it comes to the PC. So much so that thousands of players are willing to download a huge 18GB file that promised to be the game, then install it and then wonder why their computers are pillaged by viruses.
Are these people idiots? No doubt about it! Downloading a torrent of a game that hasn’t even been announced for PC, let alone released is madness. Yet for all their foolishness, these fools were fooled by the best as the torrent in question not only looked like a legit file, but also acted like one. It was verified, has a high SEO ranking (comes out near the top on Google search) and the installer looked legit right up until the last moment when it asks you to fill out your private details on a website in return for a serial key.
Of course when you complete your 18GB download, hand over your private data and allow what I can only assume to be 18GB of spyware to run loose on your system, you still don’t get to play GTA V PC… why am I not surprised. I also suspect Rockstar might not be in such a rush to pull this one from download sites, it’s the ultimate honey pot and I’m amazed people fell for it.
Lesson of the day: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Thank you Wccftech for providing us with this information.
Images courtesy of eTeknix and Wccftech.
…and this is why I only download verified torrents.
This was a verified file though
well then, maybe having a brain would help people not download viruses.
I got Borderlands 2 a few days before release as it was leaked onto the Internet somehow, however, that was after it was announced and was due for release.
I suppose there will be a % of people who just will download ANYTHING.
You want to talk about people who stupidly download fake games….. then admit to downloading pirate games yourself. I suspect some kind of award is in order
I can happily say that I bought most of my game library of 150+ games. Perhaps I was being a bit vague with what I was saying. Borderlands 2 wasn’t out yet, worldwide and I still got a good torrent of it which was not fake.
Just people who think GTA V is somehow leaked before release aren’t too intelligent.
Sure fine we have some guinea pigs, I won’t complain!
Perhaps but you’re still being a hippo…
You claim you downloaded a game that wasn’t out yet
Then you insult the intelligence of those who downloaded a game that isnt out yet
wut?
So somehow you are smarter cause yours worked but theirs didn’t?
The difference is the game in question was already scheduled for a release in a few days from when he got it; whereas GTA V has no scheduled PC release date.
You’re totally missing the point; read it properly before trying to demean someone.
Pirated does not mean fake. Here’s your badge dumbass!
Thank you! I deleted my comments because people were just not seeing my point. *I am that guest* har har.
…and this is why PC developers are hesitant to release games on PC.
People getting the game for free are holding the devs back from releasing it :/
Piracy has been proven to not decrease sales.
Get a clue.
O-really now?? Explain why they stopped making S.T.A.L.K.E.R then…
They even said in their new game (Survarium) that they are making it online to avoid people pirating the game.
Lazy excuse. Piracy has been proven to boosts sales. If you take a bit of time and check it out, you’ll see this.
Lets not even count countries that legally have no access to some media and their only way to obtain it is to pirate it. Region locking is quite common and bullshit. Theres more to piracy than you think. Do some research junior.
Except if you check any piracy site rightnow, the console versions of the games are being pirated just as well, the only difference is it takes slightly more effort to be a console pirate as you need to crack the console aswell.
Ignorance is bliss it would seem, atleast when you’re trying to defend your precious consoles.
Actually most people like to pirate games to try them and then download the games. 🙂
buy the games*
But I do legitimately buy 99% of my games. so…
I see your point however. :/
I find your lack of brain cells disturbing. you have missed the point my a good light year and a half
And once again you completly miss the point. I commend you and your ability to read between lines that are not present. Go back to my initiao post and read it, it says admitting it is not smart. Do i say “pirate files and downloading them is evil mkay” no, no I do not, I say asmitting it is not smart.
Now let us analize why it is not smart… person admits to downloading files, another person with absolutly no sence of humor and way to much free time desides to show that admission to an authority, potentialy landing them in a great deal of trouble
The internet is full of self inflated knowitalls, you and I are proof of that…… some would report just for the fun of it
I didn’t miss shit, I just can’t believe you actually meant that. Your understanding of procedural law is laughable at best and your naivete is on level with that of a 4th grader.
Simply admitting to a felony on the internet constitutes jack shit in any respectable court of law pretty much anywhere in the civilized western world, without further evidence such an admittance of guilt doesn’t even constitute enough basis for a simple investigation. Hell, one can even admit to murder and 9/11 in this way and without further PROOF no prosecutor or judge will find basis to even open a file in this case.
Have you ever BEEN in a court of law?
If I we’re you kid… I’d shut it… really. it looks bad. I think I met domestic animals with more wit than you. Go through life for a while, maybe you’ll learn something.
I’m sorry, I tried to read your reply but I think I have a graphics card problem. All the comment box said was “blah blah blah, over inflated opinion of ones self, blah blah blah”
Making an admittance on the internet constitutes nothing huh, you may want to read the news on the amount of twitter users that get hauled up in-front of a judge for comments, most notably a US man got a rather nasty door knocking from the authorities after posting an opinion RE shooting Obama… So… please do reply saying that that is completely different, I look forward to you typing a massive reply that I will skim read for the basics and ignore the rest
As lovely as an over inflated self opinion is, It just wont cut it against me
No hypocrisy here…
Hilarious
Hahahaha.. hahah… hah.. wow.
2nd or 3rd quarter 2014… What, are you looking for a beta version?
::facepalm:: People never cease to amaze me in the way of the worst.
Wish I could find the torrent so I can run it in a VM for the lolz. Can anyone send me a link?
looooooooooooool, what morons.
Those ones.
LMAO
As the article says If they are stupid enough to download a game that hasn’t been released then they deserve the viruses. Hey dude u want Call of Duty MW9 get it at this link http://www.imsoguliblegivemeviruses.com #GTAV #FAIL
link doesnt work dude
No sh*t sherlock..
fuckin idiot
Such a derp.
Need to double click or if that doesn’t work delete system32 and try again
I know right, i deleted system32 and now my computer won’t start up =(
Instructions unclear, dick stuck in internet browser. Please advise.
lol…honey trap not honey pot
They got it right the first time.
you should learn the phrases before trying to correct people. honey pot is correct. i am not sure what a honey trap is
Honey trap is where a girl seduces a bloke to prove he’s cheating on his missus…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=honey%20trap
Honey trap is a ploy to see if your partner would cheat on you,
lol i hope you come back to see how wrong you are
it’s a honey pot. You dig your hand in expecting honey, and what do you get? Bees.
Don’t correct people unless you’re certain you know the answer, seriously, it’s just rude and dumb.
Ugh… how stupid can one be?
We haven’t yet discovered the upper limit!!
+1 lol. Its only going to be so long before someone else comes along and shows us how high they can set the bar
Julius Malema anyone?
Sometimes shit leaks.
This wasn’t that time.
I’ve gotta say as dumb as these people are I feel bad for them. Gotta learn the hard way sometimes I guess.
who hasn’t downloaded something and spent hours trying to remove it.. nothing better than prime valuable experience…plus the more virus/malware you remove the easier the process gets =)
doesn’t exactly teach you that in “IT school”…
yet they still call it “IT school” lmfao
haha =D
People download torrents of movies that aren’t even in the theatre yet. Verified or not, if it sounds too good to be true, you are probably making a mistake. I’m sure there would have been a huge announcement if it was going to be released on PC. Iron Man 8 had over 15000 seeds last time I checked….lol
Just read comments below any torrent, there are always tons of totally retarded ones, so to me it’s old news that many people using them are as dumb as it gets.
That really isn’t funny at all. I have a feeling most who downloaded,were novice PC gamers,probably Alienware customers.I can’t imagine many seasoned ,PC Builders,enthusiast,overclockers,would fall for something so obviously bogus.Torrents are a risky business if you don’t know what you’re doing. Anyone who has been waiting for this knows,that Nvidia ,made an announcement ,then retracted it ,and there is a petition(which I have signed), to release a PC version,and now we are pretty sure it will be a Q1 2014 release (hopefully).
The whole internet is a risky business if you have no idea what you’re doing,
Whilst I agree with everything you’ve said, you really need to learn how to use commas properly.
while, I agree, too. there were, way too, many commas. the text, made sence, but the commas, didn’t work, for me.
sense* nice try 😛
the random , spacing, between ,the commas. william, shattner , without noise.
I personally hate “English” well the writing version and punctuation, I am also not a Grammar Nazi! but all those comma’s piss me off for some reason
The people who downloaded the torrent are novice about game news…..
I have seen many friends being this idiot -_-
They asked me if I got a game or not before the release :v
buahaha, how dumb can they be? jeeeez!
just support the game and buy it with cash. haha all want to play good game but doesnt support the game.
I’m sure people would be happy to buy the game for cash if it was being offered.
I would buy it, just not full price, I shall seek out the lowest price as possible! Im cheap when it comes to games
AAAAnd the lowest price happens to be free.
No you could get money -> the game would be much cheper for you
First of all this really has nothing to do with paying for the game. it’s not even out for pc, and there’s no 100% it’s coming to PC at the moment,
This is why we have contraception.
pwn3d
Console peasants with a PC as a secondary machine downloaded this. Knuckle dragging fukwits!
Nice to see your ability to socialize PC gamer. Consoles are better in the case of LOCAL MULTIPLAYER, requiring much less investment in order to play with friends. Although I’m sure you wouldn’t have to worry about that, I’ll just assume you don’t socialize with many knuckle dragging fukwit peasants.
local multiplayer sucks…
What are you 12?
Do you play the wii with your sister?
various local multiplayer console games are excellent with drunk friends. generally music, sports or fighting.
Much less investment for much less functionality.
You’re restricted to what ever few things you can do with your console while PC gamers have the versatility of their gaming machine also being a computer.
So it’s pretty much Gaming and Netflix or Gaming, Netflix, Internet, Document work, SkypeTeamspeak, need I go on?
Whats the difference? 4 xbox controllers is the same investment as 4 xbox controllers. Oh right, the $20 dongle.
If you’re retarded, buy wireless, and like your shit dying mid-game. That is the difference that makes ‘casual gamers’ well.. ‘casual gamers’
Haha, instead of needing local multiplayer to play with people who aren’t automatically gigantic pieces of shit, we have these things called ‘groups’ and ‘communities’ and ‘servers’ … yeah, servers, run by ACTUAL PEOPLE! Whoa…
“hasn’t even been announced for PC” Lolwut?
only amateurs fall for it! And its not even announced for PC yet -.- 18GB? that’s small for a big game like GTAV, I think GTAV will be something like 24GB or 32GB at least.
24GB makes sense. 32 would be a bit ridiculous, considering they could after all fit it on an HDDVD.
who even uses disks nowadays? especially HDDVD, Bluray supports up to 120GB Disks, Digital Downloads is more common nowadays
Consoles, and console gamers do. And that is what GTA V is currently released on – therefore, it must be a lot smaller than you’re expecting unless they do some kind of HD patch (which it would need but only in SOME places) – otherwise it just really, really needs some 16x anistropic filtering so the textures don’t look like piss a block away.
you pay for being stupid…
They sure were stupid to fall for that, although I did play leaked version of Crysis 2 long before it was out (bought it the 1st day it was out, so it’s k) and it did work and I guess was virus free, so yeah, these things happen.
Yep, that was legit, and STILL is. It’s the Leaked Beta of Crysis 2 MP. Im involved in a project that is bringing new weapons and attachments to this Leaked Beta so players can play on LAN settings with each other on the free VPN Tunngle. We call the mod NanoWars!
This won’t be available for standard Crysis 2 will it? I find it to be so boring after steamrolling everybody online for like 5 matches in a row. Playerbase is babies.
I remember when i played leaked version of Halo Reach on my jtag xbox on a projector outside of gamestop at the Reach midnight release.
Actually it is announced for the PC.
IGN says it’s coming in spring 2014.
Does IGN own Rockstar?
We know it’s going to come, but it has not been announced by Rockstar
“We know it’s going to come, but it has not been announced by Rockstar”
What you wanted to say was that we don’t know if it’s coming because Rockstar Games haven’t announced it.
Until they announce it; Don’t get your hopes up.
Patterns my friend.
Rockstar knows the backlash if they were just “fucking with” PC gamers, what with not even announcing whether or not it’s being worked on/ported for/to PC…
Sounds kinda like the PC port of GTA IV.
Remember that? Yeah my chips, personally, are on that happening -again-
Which I am absolutely fine with. I mean, we’ll actually get anistropic filtering. Which I think would make the game look a lot less like pea soup for textures distance LOD.
“IGN says”
Are you retarded?
http://youtu.be/jS3ZxOtTD5A
Check it out on how to install GTA V on PC. LOL…
hummmmm.. a few thousand people formatting hard drives and re-installing windows. that sounds like so much fun.
If that’s how you remove a piece of malware you deserve to be infected.
Learn to msconfig.exe and safe mode.
if you installed 18gb of pure malware, you should not only forma the hard drive, but also set the computer on fire and make the rain dance
I hope like hell you don’t work in IT. Any compromised system must be fully wiped and reinstalled if it ever wants to get another IP address on my network. The fact that you just assume that you’d be able to track, identify, and eliminate all malware from an infected machine speaks volumes.
If you were my employee you’d be sent back down to the help desk to answer phones.
You do know that some people are actually intelligent enough to decompile the offended malware file, find out what it does, and clean up after it without requiring a total format…. ?
we are talking about 18Gb of the stuff… its actually quicker to just format and reinstall.
The majority of the stuff is most likely bloatware (Open a text editor, input the letter A 10 billion times, save, rename to gtav.dat), and the malware itself is most likely <1MB code (Probably a generic googlable piece of malware at that)
It’ll be a simple bit of malware and a 17.999Gb file.
or it can be 17.999Gb of different files scattered through out your system 😉
I have allot of “stupid” friends when it comes to tech and programs.. they have no idea.. 1 virus that makes your pc slow and they will think its a normal thing because “my pc is crap”…
They will use that free version of AVG or Norton and think everything is fine…
I have also had that before So i can agree with you… ****ers make you download 18GB and the EXE or installer is corrupted.. or its just video files turned into a different unknown format…
you guys are both idiots…. just saying as someone who works in IT.
How so?
Now that’s just silly. The vast majority of Malware does not have overly complex entrenchment. Removing it from a registry Run key via msconfig, or removing the registry BHO key, then deleting the files is sufficient. It’s the rare few that require more, such as ZeroAccess, and only then because they delete firewall rules and the like (and need to boot from an external OS to remove it’s files from within Recycle Bin). You have to go the extra step to restore this data.
Simply wiping and reinstalling suggests that you see malware as a voodoo curse that can’t be ridden. It’s not. It’s software. It can all be removed, even MBR malware.
If you were my boss I’d quit. You’re totally clueless.
Actually I do work IT, but I have a specialty towards malware and reverse engineering. You sir, are incompetent. This is probably not 18GB of malware, probably just a spoofed file size to be more realistic. This is generally the case with large infected files. I’m downloading it now, but as it’s 18GB I can’t say I’ve taken a look yet.
Exceptions to this which require a full restore are:
PE Infections which infect EXE files (Not likely, this isn’t the 90’s VX scene)
Some MBR Bootkits, but not all of them, are easier to remove with a reformat than to remove manually. They can ALL be removed by hand (Maybe not SMM Hypervisor rootkits but I’ve never played with one), it’s just a matter of if it’s worth it.
Please go back to your hut in the woods.
I find it tough to believe you would genuinely use msconfig and safe-mode to confidently remove an infection. If you genuinely have a specialty towards malware and reverse engineering then you know exactly what the risks are once a single infection has taken hold. Then if you are a competent sysadmin, all your systems are appropriately baselined and re-imaging is trivial compared to returning a previously, potentially still, infected machine to the network.
That depends greatly on the infection.
I can tell with confidence if a machine is infected. I have absolutely no doubts in my ability to do so. Generally MSConfig and Safe Mode are all I need, but sometimes HijackThis and GMER are also used.
Well of course it depends on the infection, that was my point. 🙂 I see you have revised your original post now. RE hypervisor rootkits, you’re lucky if you detect them in the first place.
Yeah, I’d be pretty interested in getting ahold of one to play with, but they’re pretty rare and I’ve never seen one in the wild. This is probably because they’re largely dependent on hardware so it’s difficult to create one that will have a good execution rate.
Sources and whitepapers to review here http://www.invisiblethingslab.com/resources/bh08/
^ THIS.
Correct answer. Probably the only time I’ve seen this on a Website, too many people wipe their machines without investigating and finding the cause. To stop it happening in the future.
So you all work in IT and are suggesting to average computer users to remove virus/mal manually and to feel comfortable afterwards.
Your fired.
Hi Crypto, would it be OK to just swap out my hard drive for a clone made before the infection? Seems cheaper than a days work faffing about with files…
msconfig.exe is present in xp but not windows 7 ot windows 8, so how do you clear it up themn? I agree the best way to be 100% sure that your system is clean is to ,remove and reinstall partition then format
msconfig is present in both Win7 and Win8. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
I NEVER read this much forum funnies in one day. Thank you all. hahaaaa! Yes. AGAIN, MSconfig is a system configuration tool used in every version of windows for troubleshooting system startup. Windows 98, XP, Vista, Win7, and even Win8 contain this utility. I have to agree with Crypto Toad that your system has been in fact taken over by a virus and disabled the utility. That won’t matter though, since you think that this utility will remove a virus. Good luck, stay in school.
lol, have you checked?
I am using msconfig in win 7. I think that you are using fake version of win 7
Or it was disabled by a trojan.
people are retarded!
HA HA HA HA HA GUTTTEEEEDDDD 😀
HAHAHAHA
Got to love clueless pirate kids like this 🙂
18GB of spyware….wow. Your only option is to completely wipe and reformat the system.
what are you stupid u dont have to format ur drive to get it out if its 1kb of malware or 10000000tbs it can be easily removed without a full wipe
Well if you’re as stupid as these people a total wipe is best option for these morons.
“I hate having a SATA hard-drive! Guys, stop being in the future.”
??..Most SSDs are SATA too…. SATA is just the bus interface. I think you mean HDD.
My mistake!
I bet you’re one of the fools that downloaded it. Am I right? Huh?
every single noob will format a drive just to remove one virus…lol
Faster and easier, plus you get a fresh system, so, whats the problem?
I keep a backup of my original install of my OS. Takes me 5 mins to reformat with all drivers and software i need.
Reformat in five minutes ?? KKKK funny boy
you can do a full re-install if you have an SSD and an image of windows on a flash drive, takes about 10 minutes
Just so you know guys, Conor is absolutely right. Reformatting is a lot quicker, easier, SAFER, and CLEANER than doing the scan/quarantine/delete bullshit. Which always has a bunch of fucking hoops with permissions which is tedious as hell.
If you want to trust your own virus removal skills that’s fine. Just don’t be surprised when you notice some new transactions on your credit card. Viruses and malware change on a regular basis, thinking you have complete control is ignorant. A system format will be the best way to assure you are not infected anymore.
No need to re-install. Just pop in the clone of your hard drive from before the virus…
acronis true image is very fast and as universal image reformart 10 HardDisk in 12 minute LOL … in my country, Brazil the hard disks SSDs have very high values
You got gutted here.
faster…thats debatable, easier…definitely, but when you have a 1.5tb drive full of shit you need(ie if your a writer) then no its not a good thing and actually impossible to move the files without risk of moving the virus, so u dont want to wipe your drive and lose 7 years worth of work…
Clearly not 18GB of spyware, it’s probably several MB of spyware and 18GB of random data files from GTA IV or something.
If they can prove that it was Rockstar they did it… ohhh….
They never encouraged people to download it. Honestly, if you’re stupid enough to think it’s real you kinda deserve it.
These are the same people that tested if their iphones were waterproof with the ios 7 update.
Microwaving your phone will charge it faster than you can imagine.
I must admit the Iphone one had me rolling and howling with laughter..
The game is about stealing, killing and crime. Then it’s news when someone tries to steal the game. Go figure. Maybe Rockstar should make a game about charity and see how many people try to rip them off.
You’re statement makes no sense. Shut up.
“You are statement makes no sense. Shut up.”
well said my friend
autocorrect.
All your bases are belong to us.
*autocomplete
whoever falls for it deserved it
people are retarded! !
Luckily, I hate GTA games so I’m not even looking for the thing.
lol best troll of the year 😀
Lesson of the day: Don’t pirate?
no lesson of the day, don’t be a idiot on the internet and don’t trust everything on the internet
NOP. I am going to pirate the hell out of Rockstar games. When I saw the trailer for GTAV I said. “I am definetly buying this game” But they just made us wait too long beyond the point of no return, watching only play station users play it.
Normally, when someone asks you your personal details for a serial key, you’re(if you’re an “FML” kinda person) supposed to say, “Dammit! I wasted my time downloading a 18GB file for nothing! FML” In anger or sadness or some other relevant emotion…
F-A-K-E
LESSON OF THE DAY: FUCK THIS SHIT
First off its a fucking game Fuck what people say they are all fake but sometimes it is not fake trust me and it doesn’t make you an idiot just for trying and exploring cause in the end all you have to do is just not go there again. That’s what I do and if I have to put personal stuff down Idc I just get off there and try something different. So yea and People are not retarded cause if that is the case then you must be too. and BTW y’all are so rude and disrespectful if you think is okay to steal movies and copies of the stuff from the store I should say stealing or buying. but yea it ain’t stealing if they have not got in trouble sorry SO ALL OF YOU NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP NO ONE FUCKING CARES WHAT Y’ALL THINK and I am a type of person that don’t smile or laugh at anything but the shit that is meant to be funny. oh and I am not a fuck my life type of person. I am a person that will speak my mind and don’t give a fuck. SO STOP SAYING STUPID SHIT. yes I may not make sense on parts of this but oh well I am saying STOP CRITTISIZING PEOPLE okay. oh and Who cares if someone finds a way for a game cause most of you think its fine to find a way to download a movie or watch one that is not out yet cause some one hacked it and put it on internet. So yea IF IT IS A CRIME TO FIND GAMES AND DOWNLOAD THEM AS YOU CALL IT STEAL THEM. THEN ITS A CRIME ON MOVIES AND OTHER SHIT TOO. okay. Thanks I have had my piece of mine it this.
OH and I also pirate stuff and it almost 99.99% of the time works. I have only had one time something did not work. So anyway…
chill out, buddy.
Sorry I can’t be Chill when people kept bullying me so I learned to speak my piece. And its people like them that just need to Shut the fuck up. Lol. But I ain’t talking to you with this. I am talking to the dissers and haters.
Sounds like somebody downloaded 18gb of viruses, felt like a dick, then wrote this to tell others they’re dicks and that he was too smart to fall for it himself. It’s just a mechanism designed to make the author feel better about himself.
Gta 5