Beware of the McAfee Scam

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Recently there has been an uptick in scams involving McAfee. In this scam, there is an email purported to be from McAfee, which is a well-known leader in online protection. The email involves the following:

  1. The victim is advised they are being charged for “McAfee total protection anti-virus software.”
  2. The victim is advised to call a number to cancel the charge, if they do not want to continue with the purchase.
  3. The victim calls the number in which an imposter McAfee employee will answer.
  4. The scammer then begins requesting personal information such as bank account information and other personal information.
  5. A wire transfer of funds is requested from the victim or the victim is asked to purchase gifts cards and read off the gift card numbers to the imposter.

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How to prevent the McAfee scam:

  1. Inspect the email address and domains the McAfee emails are coming from. Below are the legitimate email addresses and domains McAfee utilizes:
    1. mcafee.com
    2. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    3. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    4. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    5. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    6. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  2. Look for spelling and grammatical errors in the email. In addition, do not click on any links or attachments.
  3. Look to see that the sender's email originates from McAfee.com
  4. Contact McAfee customer service at 1-866-622-3911. Do not call any phone numbers on the email.
  5. Forward suspicious emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  6. Delete the email if you feel truly uncomfortable about it.
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