Mac Hacked, wanting to buy third party virus scan but afraid to use my credit card

Question

My Mac 10.6.8 was hacked last night. All administrative passwords were changed essentially locking me out of my own computer. My personal AOL email was also attacked and the passwords changed. After a very helpful Apple employee helped me reset all my passwords, I went shopping for a good, relyable third party virus scan and/or remover. But now the quandry is: how do I buy a product to get rid of the problem using a credit card when the virus is still in my computer.
I am at a loss.

Answer 1

and do you know if this is a new attack. have there been other cases?
People have come here with serious hacks on their Mac's, it happens but not that often.
So far there isn't a widespread issue like from malware, it might have been a isolated incident on your part.
Run the Sophos and it if finds anything good, but malware can make anti-virus lie. So a complete flush is still in order.
Anti-virus won't catch a hacker. To prevent hackers you need a intrusion detection system and there hasn't been a easy to use one for Mac's in ages.
i'm a bit scared about my personal info.
Don't put or do anything with computers or technology that your not willing to share with the world.
Apple, Google and Microsoft all have been successfully hacked. Nobody is perfect.
i've been checking activity moniter... is there anything i should be looking for.
If they are in EFI, no.
Acitiviy monitor only shows what is going on in OS X, not in EFI or firmware.
If you want to check OS X out. Then open Terminal and paste/press return and upload the file on your desktop/home folder to this website, they will check for known malware.
http://triviaware.com/macprocess/
if i shut off my internet are they still capable of screwing me?
Yes of course, they can leave a timer and destroy your data or encrypt it etc.,
Being cut off the Internet doesn't stop them, just they lose contact, can't use your machine like a bot.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57409619-83/more-than-600000-macs-infected-with -flashback-botnet/
can this result in identity theft? should i proactively call the police?
You should file a report, with them, beause if someone does something in your name it's a matter of record you reported a intrusion into your computer.
You also should talk to your bank, freeze any credit cards you have used on the machine, any information that they can use to gain access to your accounts.
If they go into your machine and emails, they go for the money and whatever they can charge on you also.
This is why I say call in a professional, I'm not here 24/7 to assist and just lucky I saw your post.