Scammers are back and this time they are trying a new way to cash in and make money. It appears that users of services such as Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook are being targeted by a new email that claims to be from the cyber security team at McAfee. As many PC owners will be aware, McAfee offers cyber protection for Windows and Mac devices with its software aimed at blocking viruses. It's this functionality that's helping the hackers with emails creating alarm by suggesting your plan has expired.
The message warns that this is the “FINAL-NOTICE” and not taking action immediately will mean your PC is no longer protected. To add to the sense of urgency the message includes warning signs and alerts - there’s even the recent date included showing when the plan ended and the email has official McAfee logos embedded in it.
“You are at risk!” the email seen by Mirror Online exclaims. “Your McAfee Antivirus subscription has expired on Tuesday, 4th June, 2024. After the expiry date has passed your computer will become susceptible to many different virus threats.”
This warning is then followed by a subscribe button.
So how are the cyber thieves making money from this? It seems they have come up with a clever way of cashing in as once the link is clicked it takes you to the official McAfee website where you are presented with the options to sign up and pay for protection. That may seem odd as you are not asked to hand over credit card details or personal data to the scammers.
However, on closer inspection, it seems that users are redirected to McAfee via an affiliate link. This basically means if you sign up, the online crooks will take a small cut of the money. It’s a neat trick as you aren’t actually being attacked by the scammers and they aren’t physically stealing from you.
They just claim commission on what you purchase from McAfee's official store. What you need to watch out for is if you don’t want or need McAfee protection as you’ll end up paying for something that's useless to you.
McAfee warns about about scams on its website and says crooks often use its names to cash in.
“Cybercriminals use fake emails that look like they're from legitimate companies to trick you into sharing private information like credit card details and Social Security numbers. If you receive a suspicious email claiming to be from McAfee, verify the sender's email address and domain. If it doesn't match the domains listed below, it's likely a scam. Delete the email without clicking any links.”
Mirror Online has contacted McAfee about this new type of affiliate scam but we're not the only ones to have spotted it. A number of other users have noticed similar tricks with McAfee saying it "takes affiliate fraud very seriously, and should an affiliate partner violate our policy agreements, we act quickly to remove them."
We'll update this story if we hear back from McAfee.
