McAfee, The “Pandora Papers” and a transaction I never authorized. The Case Against the McAfee Alert…
The other day I got this email claiming to come from McAfee from arifusmani936@gmail.com
The subject line:
“Your Transaction confirmation has been successfully processed.”
The charge? $440.00. 😱
A common scam with uncommon legs...
Email body:
“We're writing to inform you that your McAfee service is due for renewal. A payment of USD 440.00 will be processed within 12 hours to extend your plan for the next 5-Year.
Questions? Call us at (317) 217-O313.
Service Details
• Transaction Number: VQZV-4171-1632
• Transaction date: Monday, June 02, 2025
• Service: SecureShield Elite-270187
• Support Duration: 5-Year
• Total Charge: USD440.00
For your safety, report any unusual activity to us right away at (317) 217-O313.
Many Thanks,
McAfee, Inc.”
The first thing these scammers count on people doing is seeing the respected name of McAfee, seeing a transaction pending and immediately calling the listed number.
According to security.org’s 2024 annual consumer report, Norton still holds the top spot, but “…McAfee is the most popular free third-party tool.”
But this email is:
Poorly written.
Has a false sense of urgency.
Typo, shouldn’t be “5-Year.”
The phone number has the letter “O” in it.
Transaction numbers/dates are completely fake.
McAfee does not have a specific feature called "SecureShield."
The only reason I saw this email was because I checked my spam folder.
Some people would quickly block this email and move on because it’s obvious to them but take yourselves out of it for a moment.
Think of a younger or older loved one who isn’t experienced or has lost some cognitive ability and is susceptible to this scam.
Anybody, anywhere, anytime can be scammed.
Arif Usmani has a troubled history, and Raul Balagot hasn’t been located yet.
Check on your loved ones and colleagues, young and old. Alert them about this email scam. All it takes is one click on the wrong link, or one phone call and their life could be ruined.
Have them forward the scam email to scam@mcafee.com
Did you get an email like this?
Stay vigilant.
#TheProfiler 🕵🏾♂️
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