Important Warning About “Cult Mod V.2”

If you are a user of the Cult Mod by PimpMySims4 and recently downloaded Cult Mod V.2, please read this important post!

Cult Mod V.2 – Not What You Think It Is

A few years ago a mod called the Cult Mod by simmer PimpMySims4 was released to the community, allowing players to start & maintain one of two cults. The last time this mod was updated was September 2021.

Recently a mysterious user impersonating the original mod author posted an “update” to the file on ModTheSims, which turned out to be a potentially malicious .exe file and not actually an update to the mod. It’s unclear yet what this .exe file was designed to do, but its presence is enough to be highly suspicious.

The mod has since been deleted from ModTheSims, but if you downloaded it in the short time it was up, your computer might be at risk.

What To Do If You Downloaded Cult Mod V.2

If you have downloaded this “mod” from ModTheSims, remove it from your Mods folder right away. Hold down SHIFT+Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin and queue the file for immediate deletion. Once you’ve removed the file do a full virus scan of your computer to catch any residual damage the fake mod may have done.

How Did This Happen?

It’s alarming that this was allowed to happen in the first place, as ModTheSims has a fairly rigid approval process which requires that a moderator review content before it’s approved for upload. There’s an exception for users who have had a certain number of successful uploads in the past and therefore have proven themselves capable of meeting the upload requirements, but the account that shared this potentially dangerous file was brand new.

From a personal standpoint as someone who has previously shared their work on ModTheSims I imagine that the file was approved without being tested by a rushed moderator; the amount of time it takes for content to be approved nowadays is quite long. My last submission took 6 days to be approved and with moderators being a volunteer position it’s likely the site is just plain short-staffed. It’s reasonable to assume they might not have the resources to test every item uploaded despite their best efforts. Fortunately the situation has been dealt with on their end, and the upload was deleted.

Is ModTheSims Okay To Use? Staying Safe Online

Generally, ModTheSims should be assumed safe to use and this event should be considered a one-off incident. To further protect yourself, here are a few tips:

• Check the comments before you download anything to make sure nobody else has posted about the mod causing issues
• See if the mod maker has uploaded the same content to other platforms like Patreon, and compare the upload dates (in this case the fake Cult Mod V.2 was uploaded just recently while the last update of the real mod was 16 months ago)
• If you see a file on ModTheSims that was uploaded recently that you want to install, wait a few days and see if the mod is still there
• Run a virus check before starting The Sims 4 after you install new mods

Further Reading

If you’re having trouble with CC in your Sims game unrelated to this issue, we have several resources for getting it running again safely and quickly: