WordPress has links you did not add. That is malware, not a mystery.

What this usually is

Unwanted links are either sitting in content (widgets, post content, theme customizer) or being printed by PHP you cannot see in the editor. The second kind is the actual incident: a modified footer.php, a must-use plugin, an eval() in an otherwise-real file, or a database option that a leftover cron reprints. Staff did not “accidentally” add fifty casino anchors in Korean.

What you are probably seeing

• Footer or sidebar filled with casino, loan, or “buy pills” anchors
• Links with CSS that hides them (display:none, 1px font, off-screen)
• The same block of links on every page, including pages you never edit
• Links that only appear in view-source or to logged-out visitors
• You deleted them yesterday and they are back this morning

What not to do

• Do not only delete the links in the widget or the block editor. If they return after a refresh, the generator is still live.
• Do not replace the theme blindly. You will lose the design and often leave the dropper in wp-content/mu-plugins or in wp-config.php.
• Do not assume a freelancer “must have added them.” Check the user list and the file dates before you accuse the wrong person.

What we actually do

We tell you whether the links live in the database, in the theme, or in a file that is not supposed to exist. Then we remove the generator and the leftover admin or FTP account that put it there. That is the published WordPress IR job — Phase A from $2,500 — not a “SEO cleanup” retainer.

Published rates live on the WordPress incident-response packages page: Phase A from $2,500, Phase B from $2,000, combined from $4,200. Remote nationwide. Onsite in the Tri-Cities and Western North Carolina if you want someone in the room. If the WordPress site is the front door to a larger business compromise, start at emergency incident response instead.