Cybercriminals target individuals or organizations in different ways. The purpose of these attacks is to steal the confidential and sensitive data of users and organizations, such as credit card details, passwords, etc. Moreover, they can also sell the users’ data on the Dark Web. Scam emails and messages are one of the attacks done by cybercriminals. One thing is common in all these scam email messages. These email messages pretend to be sent by a company so that the users will click on the links provided in these emails. For normal users, it is difficult to differentiate between legitimate email messages and scam email messages. This article shows how to identify fake McAfee scam messages and emails.
Identify fake McAfee scam messages and emails
For normal users, it is difficult to differentiate a fake email message from the legitimate one. But if you take care of some important points, you can easily identify the scam email messages in your inbox. Here’s how to know if an email from McAfee is genuine. Learn how to get rid of McAfee scam emails & messages.
Scam email messages contain suspicious links that take users to websites designed by hackers. The design of these websites looks almost similar to legitimate websites. Once you land on such web pages, your data is not safe. If you enter your credit card or debit card details to make a payment for purchasing a product, your information will be stolen by the hacker.
In addition to this, the website may also ask you to install software on your system. Such types of software developed by cybercriminals are known as malware because they contain malicious code. Once you download and install such software on your system, malware will enter your system. Now, hacker can control your system remotely and steal your data without your information.
The technique used in scam emails to steal the confidential and sensitive information of users is called Phishing, and the attack is called phishing attack. Phishing gets its name from fishing because it follows the same technique fishermen use to catch fish. The most common reason why phishing attacks are popular is the lack of awareness. Things that are common among phishing attacks are requests for submitting personal information, require immediate action by the users, etc.
Some users have reported that they received email messages under the name of McAfee regarding the payment of the antivirus. But according to them, they did not make such a payment. The email message also included a statement saying:
If you didn’t authorize this charge, you have 48 hours from the date of the transaction to open a dispute against this charge and claim for a refund. For more information about this order or to cancel your subscription with McAfee reach us out on our Toll-Free No.
Users received a toll-free number in the email message to raise the dispute. In addition to the contact number, you may also receive a link in the email message. The following information will help you identify fake McAfee scam emails and messages.
Grammatical errors
Phishing emails have grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. If you are good at English you can easily notice such mistakes. If you see grammatical and spelling errors in emails pretending to be legit, you will easily identify that this email is not genuine and it is a phishing attempt.
Read: Avoid Online Tech Support Scams and PC Cleanup Solutions
Suspicious links and attachments
Phishing emails contain suspicious links and attachments. If you doubt an email message, you can scan the links and attachments provided in that email on free online virus scanners, like VirusTotal. Do not click on the links provided in the email. Copy them and scan them on VirusTotal or another good online virus scanner. If the email has an attachment, download it and scan it on an online virus scanner. Do not run or open that attachment until you scan it online for viruses.
Domain name
Scam email messages are either sent from a public domain or their domain names are misspelled. If you receive an email message from an organization or any other sender, your first step is to check its domain name. You will see the sender’s email address at the top of the email message. If its domain name ends with a public domain address, like @gmail.com, it may be fake.
All the email messages sent from McAfee end with .mcafee.com. Following is a list of domain names that McAfee uses to send emails to its customers:
- info@authentication.mcafee.com
- Info@notification.mcafee.com
- info@protect.mcafee.com
- info@smmktg.mcafee.com
- info@smtx.mcafee.com
- donotreply@authentication.mcafee.com
- donotreply@mcafee.com
As you can see, all the above email addresses contain .mcafee.com in the end. Hence, these emails are genuine. If you receive an email that has a domain name other than those mentioned above, be cautious and share this information with the McAfee team at spam@mcafee.com.
Read: Where to report Online Scams, Spam and Phishing websites?
How to stop receiving spam emails in your inbox
Gmail has a feature using which you can mark suspicious emails as spam. After that, all the emails from that sender will not land in the Spam folder. To do so, simply select the suspicious email and click Report Spam.
In addition to this, you can also block a sender in Gmail or Outlook.com. The block and unblock a sender feature is available in almost all email clients. After blocking a particular sender, you will not receive emails from him.
Read: What is Session Hijacking and how to prevent It?
How do I know if a McAfee alert is real?
To know if a McAfee alert is real or fake, you need to comprehend the characteristic of the email message. For example, if it is sent from a public domain name or the domain name is misspelled, the email is poorly written, the email has a sense of urgency, The email has suspicious links and attachments, etc. You can easily identify a fake email if you know these things.
How to tell if a McAfee popup or notification is fake?
To tell if a McAfee popup or notification is fake, open Control Panel or Settings and check if you have McAfee software installed. If you do not have it installed, then it is a fake pop-up. If you have it installed, then open the McAfee security software, and if the popup is genuine, you should be able to see a notification there as well. If you do not see it, then it is in all likelihood a fake McAfee popup notification. Run your McAfee antivirus scan in Safe Mode and additionally a Defender scan at boot-time to eliminate the malware.
TIP: Read here about the most common Online and Email scams & frauds.
Where do I report fake McAfee emails?
If you think that an email from McAfee is suspicious, you should not click on links and not contact the number provided in that email. You can report fake McAfee emails at spam@mcafee.com.
Related: Microsoft Scams: Identify & avoid scams that fraudulently use the Microsoft name
Are there fake McAfee websites?
Although it is not possible to scan the entire internet for fake McAfee websites for us, there is a high chance that you could find some fake sites for sure. You can take any popular antivirus company and research more. There is a very high chance of getting such phishing websites on the internet.
Read next: How Attackers can Bypass Two-factor Authentication.
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