“McAfee Safety Warning! You might recently browsed to compromised websites that are most likely infected with viruses.” These are the content of the fake McAfee alert that we have discovered recently. The pop-up could arise from the website you are viewing or can also be seen after a series of browser redirects. Read on to know more about this online risk, how to distinguish the fake ones, and how you can protect the computer against this fraud.
What do you need to know?
The fake “McAfee Safety Warning” that we are seeing recently on some websites is actually a deceptive message. It usually claims that the computer is infected with a virus and has gotten it while browsing a malicious website. Online users who encounter this pop-up often deem it real as it uses alarming messages and visuals appearing to be from McAfee antivirus. These misleading pop-ups aim at making users believe that the system is indeed infected so that they blindly follow what is suggested in the message. Normally, the bogus “McAfee Safety Warning” recommends downloading a program or subscribing to an antivirus plan.
Risks Involved With The Fake McAfee Safety Warning
Unnecessary Expenses: Web users who are tricked by the phony alert normally end up downloading the recommended program or paying for a yearly subscription. The latter causes no harm to the computer because the website redirects the user to a legitimate antivirus website, and all processes are valid. The only downside is the unnecessary spending on the part of victims. Since the subscription is legitimate, at least the users are able to consume their plan to protect their computer against virus attack.
Malware Installation: Asking web users to download a suggested application falls into the risky side of the pop-up scheme. In this scenario, users are often tricked to download and install a rogue tool, which can be risky. Aside from that, a payment is also requested in order to fully run the said program.
Data Theft: These scams sometimes redirect the internet browser to a fraudulent payment page setup by the cybercriminals. Data input on this malicious page is recorded, and most often, the attacker utilized the gathered information for other online fraud activities.
Computer Issues: In the case of a rogue tool being installed on the computer, users may experience significant changes in the performance of their device. Because this rogue software is not professionally designed, it can consume more resources than the valid ones. As a result, users may experience software crashes and malfunctions while the rogue applications exist on the computer.
Distinguishing Real Alert From Fake Ones
Knowing if the “McAfee Safety Warning” is legit or fake not only takes away extra expenses from users. Most of all, it prevents malware contamination. Here are some tips for web users to easily identify when to ignore the virus alert:
Availability: The valid McAfee pop-up or any sort of virus alert may only be witnessed if the software is installed and actively protecting the computer. If a certain antivirus brand displays an alert, but it is not installed on the computer, chances are it is a fake pop-up from a malicious website or malware that has infiltrated the system.
Pop-up Origin: The fake McAfee alert normally pops up when visiting websites that are associated with illicit software and media distribution, adult pages, online gambling sites, and so on. Having said that, encountering the “McAfee Safety Warning” while browsing these sites is not worrisome at all as long as you never click on it or follow any of the suggestions.
Online Virus Scanner: Most of these McAfee pop-up alerts are run in a web environment. Keep in mind that McAfee does not offer such a feature; it does not have an online virus scanner (as of today). The product’s virus scanning module may only run if it is installed on the computer, not from websites, especially from a pop-up window.
Virus removal and protecting the computer
The majority of our encounter with the fake safety warning from McAfee is due to the visited malicious websites. That being said, a virus infection is not likely the cause. However, the browser redirects that occur while navigating the malicious sites may have caused the browser to have contact with malware codes. Therefore, scanning the computer with our recommended tool called Combo Cleaner is helpful not only in checking the computer. The licensed version of it also protects the system from encountering fake “McAfee Safety Warning” and other online risks.
About the Scanner: Combo Cleaner is a trusted computer security and optimization tool equipped with a powerful virus and malware detection engine. This program can guard the device against pop-ups, redirects, and similar threats, whether it is PC, Mac, Android, or iOS.
1. Download the application from the following page:
2. Save the file to your preferred location.
3. Double-click the downloaded file and install with the default settings.
4. At the end of the setup process, click Finish to run Combo Cleaner.
5. To begin checking for threats like malware, click on the Start Scan button. Wait for this scan to finish.
6. At the end of the scan process, click on Remove all threats to delete malware, including all harmful objects from the computer.
To fully optimize the features of antivirus and privacy scanners, users may have to upgrade to the premium version.
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