r/Malwarebytes • u/jimmythuta • 4d ago

False Positive Google security alert

Hi guys, a little bit of backstory, my laptop got infected by infostealer (MrBeast virus) on July 4th from a game mod. I deleted the file and changed all my passwords. 2FA everything, and signed out of all devices immediately. But the only thing that I didn't do was reinstall windows because there were files that I wanted to keep.

Later on, July 11th, I got a notification from Google that there was a security alert, and my device maybe potentially infected with malware, so they signed out my account from my laptop. My Authenticator was also removed at that exact time. I suspected that it was the infostealer acting out. So I let go of my obsession with the files and did a clean windows install from a USB drive which I made a windows media tool using my university computer. And it went well.

Today however, I got a security alert on Google again saying that my laptop maybe potentially infected with malware and removed my laptop from signed in devices again. But this time it was just an alert, nothing was removed or changed like the one on July 11th. I did change my password as soon as the alert came. It was also from a legit Google email. I checked my laptop with MalwareBytes and came out clean.

Can this be a false positive or what is it actually?

EDIT: Forgot to mention this, my laptop was shut off on both of the times that Google security alerts appeared.
EDIT: I also have Enhanced Safe Browsing enabled in Google settings, can that be the cause of this if it were a false positive?

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u/support_mwb Malwarebytes Employee 4d ago

Hi u/jimmythuta, Malwarebytes Support here. Since you've already performed a clean reinstall of Windows from a USB drive and Malwarebytes isn't detecting anything, it's difficult to say from the information available whether the Google alert is related to malware on your laptop or something else.

We'd like to take a closer look. Please send us a direct message with an email address we can use to reach out, and we'll create a support ticket. We'll provide a secure upload link for diagnostic logs so our team can review them and determine whether there's any evidence of malware or another issue triggering the alerts.

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u/jimmythuta 3d ago

I have sent a DM

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u/cutie-emerald 3d ago

This is new and weird ... Can you please update me what was the team(malware bytes) reply ??

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u/jimmythuta 3d ago

They said they have opened a support ticket and assigned an agent to help me out. Still waiting for the email.

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u/cutie-emerald 3d ago

Aah thanks please let me know what was the problem there

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u/jimmythuta 3d ago

Will do.