Security firms have analyzed thousands of “game repack” torrents. A significant percentage contain remote access trojans (RATs), keyloggers, or even ransomware. That innocent-looking license.txt file could be a script that downloads additional malware. A repack .exe could encrypt your hard drive.

While individual downloaders are rarely sued, depending on your country, you could receive a copyright infringement notice from your ISP. In Germany or Japan, for example, penalties for piracy can reach thousands of euros.

On Reddit’s r/GTA, users regularly share horror stories:

“Downloaded a Vice City repack from a ‘trusted’ uploader. Next day, my Steam account was emptied of skins worth $200. Keylogger in the crack.” – u/VericettRules

“I just wanted the license key txt because my disc wouldn't read. The file was 2KB but when I opened it, my browser redirected to 20 spam pages. Then my antivirus went crazy.” – u/80sKidForever

“The repack worked fine for a week. Then my PC started mining Bitcoin at 100% GPU usage whenever I was idle. Hidden miner.” – u/Nightcall