Enjoy a safer life
by avoiding these online scams

When it comes to online scams, a little knowledge can make you more confident in your safety. Read on to learn about the most common types of scams, how to spot them, and how to avoid them.

Tip: Report fraudulent emails using the McAfee brand to scam@mcafee.com

Emails sent to McAfee may be used to improve McAfee’s products, including training AI models to detect and fight email scams. For more information see McAfee’s privacy notice.

Imposter Scams

How to spot McAfee imposters

Recently, some of our customers have been targeted by messages that appear to be actual McAfee communications but are from cybercriminals trying to steal personal and financial information. Here are a few examples of fraudulent McAfee communications.

Listen from our Online Safety Expert about McAfee Imposter Scams

Examples of imposter McAfee messages

Verifying genuine McAfee messages

How to tell if your subscription, renewal, invoice, or receipt notice is real

We recommend logging on to McAfee.com to confirm your subscription and renewal status. We will never require you to call a phone number in an email or text message.

You can also visit our customer service site at https://www.mcafee.com/support to find a solution to your problem in our Knowledge Base, or contact the official McAfee Customer Support team by phone or chat.

How to tell if the email you receive is legitimately from McAfee
There are many ways to spot phishing emails. Look for:

Spelling and grammar mistakes
Suspicious links and attachments
Requests for personal or financial information

Fraudulent customer service websites

If you believe you have used a fraudulent customer service website, you can take actions to protect yourself based on the type of information you provided.

Credit card data: Check your credit card statement for any fraudulent or unrecognized charges.
Email: Mark spam messages as junk and/or move to your junk folder, add additional spam filters, and change email addresses if you can.
Social security number: Enroll in Identity Protection, which you may already be entitled to as part of your McAfee subscription.

How to enroll with McAfee Identity Protection Services

McAfee Identity Protection services are available across 32 countries through an active McAfee subscription. To enroll:

Go to protection.mcafee.com. This link is also in your invitation email.
Click Get Started.
Type your McAfee login credentials and sign in.
After clicking the checkbox to confirm you are over 16 years of age, Identity Monitoring will start scanning the dark web for your email address.
Follow the relevant prompts, depending on whether your email address was found on the dark web.
Confirm your email address by completing the one-time-password process.
Follow the additional prompts to complete the setup of Identity Monitoring.

Additional customer service and email address info

More information about McAfee customer service

McAfee provides free customer service and will never call to ask you to pay for Customer Service.

If you receive calls that claim to be from McAfee, but are of a harassing or abusive nature, contact McAfee Customer Service and report the call to one of our team members.

McAfee Customer Service and the Customer Service teams of our partners don’t require, and will never request sensitive information such as your social security number, PINs, and bank or payment details.

List of legitimate McAfee email addresses

McAfee sends email communications from several email domains and for different purposes. Click on this support article to view an example of each legitimate email address.

Do you think you’re the victim of a scam?

We’re here to help. Head over to our “Report a scam” page for next steps you can take and for ways your McAfee subscription can help you get on the path to recovery.

Web Scams

Cybercriminals have many tools for defrauding you while you go about your day online. Phony websites, bogus apps, and malware-loaded attachments are some of the ways they come after you and your personal information.

Common web scams include:

Phony shopping and e-commerce sites

Scammers will prop up sites to sell products that they will never deliver. However, they will take your money and debit or credit card info.

Credit card and credential capture

Some scammer sites will ask for credit card information or other account information (Apple ID or Google account) to proceed or browse on their site.

Malware attacks

Suspicious links or malicious email attachments are used to install viruses and other malware on your devices. Some apps from uncommon app stores can have malware too.

Ransomware attacks

Another form of malware that holds your device and data for ransom — locking it up until you pay. Even then, you have no guarantee they’ll set your data free.

Ways to avoid web scams:

Keep things updated

Your operating system, web browsers, and apps are constantly updating to adjust to the scammers’ new tricks. This includes keeping your McAfee subscription updated as well.

Be careful what you click

The long-standing advice still holds true. You can use web protection that warns you of suspicious links and websites that may appear on some search results.

Only download apps from official web stores

Device manufacturers like Apple and Google have measures in place that help prevent malware-loaded apps from ending up in their stores.

Look out for alternative forms of payment

Online scams often ask for payment by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Consider using a credit card instead of a debit card for more protection against fraudulent activity.

Do you think you’re the victim of a scam?

We’re here to help. Head over to our “Report a scam” page for next steps you can take and for ways your McAfee subscription can help you get on the path to recovery.

Messaging Scams

Scammers will try to reach you in many ways – phone, chat, text, email, direct messages on social media, with phishing scams, and they even target senior citizens. They’ll try to get your guard down by posing as someone, business, or organization you trust.

Common messaging scams:

Phone scams

Phone scams imitate real calls you might expect to receive. Scammers try to get your personal information and money with tech support, credit repair, charity, and extended car warranty scams.

Chat and text scams

These messages mention free prizes and cheap goods, fake package delivery, debt and student loan assistance, payment issues, or a “wrong number” text can lead to a friendship or romance scam.

Email scams

Scammers use emails to pose as reputable brands to get your personal information or money by offering deals or assistance to make payments. They’ll often include links to fake sites and attachments that are really malware.

Senior citizen scams

Scammers see senior citizens as less technically savvy and as people who lack daily contact with others. They use these assumptions to pose as relatives, a security pro or rep for tech support, and government employees.

Phishing scams

Scammers send dangerous links through requests for files, document signatures, survey completion, and payments. They often pose as a company’s CEO or executives to get company, employee, or contract information.

Avoiding messaging scams:

Be cautious and resist pressure to act quickly

Watch out for unsolicited phone calls, mailings, and door-to-door services offers—particularly those that create a sense of urgency or use scare tactics to lure you into immediate action. Those are telltale signs of a scam.

Verify the message

If a friend, family member, bank, or any other business asks you for personal information or money, validate the request by going directly to the company’s website or by calling the company or person making the request.

Don’t click on links and attachments

If you don’t do business with a particular company, don’t click on any links, attachments, or take any surveys it may send. Likewise, if the email comes from someone or business you do know, follow up with them to see if they in fact sent it.

Confirm you’re on the correct site

Phishers often set up bogus websites that look legitimate hoping to trick you into entering your login details. In fact,  it’s safest to directly type in the address of the site you wish  to visit.

Lean on the experts

Several banks, financial institutions, and the American Association of Retired People (AARP) offer resources, such  as the AARP fraud hotline, to help protect elder customers.  Our McAfee Safety Series include guides that cover topics  like phishing, identity theft, and staying safe on social media.

Do you think you’re the victim of a scam?

We’re here to help. Head over to our “Report a scam” page for next steps you can take and for ways your McAfee subscription can help you get on the path to recovery.

Report a scam

Do you think you’re the victim of a scam?

Realizing you’ve become a victim of a scam carries plenty of emotion, which is understandable—the scammer has taken you in, along with your money and information. Once that initial rush of anger and surprise has passed, it’s time to get clinical and get to work on the following steps.

Steps for protecting yourself

1. Notify the companies involved

If you spot a curious charge, a potentially fraudulent account, or get an alert from your monitoring service, let the bank or organization involved know as soon as possible. Also, forward phishing emails to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, which includes ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies at: reportphishing@apwg.org

2. File a police report

Some businesses will require you to file a local police report to acquire a case number to complete your claim. Beyond that, filing a report is a good idea in itself. Identity theft is still theft and reporting it provides an official record of the incident.

3. Contact governmental agencies and authorities

Our knowledge base article on identity theft offers suggestions for the specific steps you can take in specific countries, along with helpful links for local authorities.

Contact your national tax or revenue agency if you believe your tax ID number was involved in the scam. They will have their own reporting mechanisms and processes to assist you with the recovery process.

4. Continue to monitor

Use a monitoring service to help you continue to keep tabs on your identity. The unfortunate fact of identity theft and fraud is that it can mark the start of a long, drawn-out affair.

5. Work with a recovery pro

Given the time, money, and stress that can come along with setting your financial record straight, leaning on the expertise of a professional can provide you with much-needed relief on several counts.