The McAfee virus pop-up scam, also known as the McAfee critical virus alert, is scareware that leverages fear and panic to get you to act fast, make malicious downloads, or hastily enter valuable personal information to buy bogus antivirus subscriptions.
If you encounter this pop-up on a website, close the webpage and don't return to it. If you've encountered this as a push notification, you've probably allowed a malicious website to send you such prompts. You need to block these annoying notifications on your browser to avoid encountering them in the future.
When your McAfee anti-virus application's subscription is about to expire, the program displays frequent reminders on your screen, even when you're busy using another app. Unless you renew the subscription, the reminders continue as long as you have the McAfee app on your computer.
The Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired fake alert is a social engineering attack that tries to trick you into installing a malicious program or subscribing to unneeded paid services.
McAfee apps with expired subscriptions don't receive updates, or detect new threats. When the subscription for your McAfee app expires, you can no longer download new updates and virus definition files. You can still use the product, but you aren't protected from threats newer than the last update before it expired.
NOTE: It is only required to renew the McAfee® MLS subscription to continue the usage after 90 days or a paid 1 year subscription has expired.
If you choose not to renew your subscription, simply allow the expiration date to pass, and uninstall any McAfee software that you've installed. NOTE: You'll periodically be prompted to renew if you don't uninstall the product after expiration.
If you accidentally visited an unsecure site, it could have left you vulnerable to a drive-by download capable of installing malicious software and programs that could be creating the fake virus alerts. If so, you'll need to find and remove any suspicious apps and/or extensions you don't recognize.
Pop-up viruses often trick people by posing as legitimate security software such as an antivirus program. They usually display a warning of non-existent threats with the intention of panicking you into action. Their hope is that you'll click on the pop-up and pay them to eliminate the “threat”.
Scam websites
Some websites that aren't endorsed by or affiliated with McAfee might still be genuine. But some websites that offer Customer Service for McAfee products try to charge you a large amount of money for poor or non-existent Customer Service. These websites are known as scam websites.
On the Settings screen, tap on Apps, then Tap on Secure Home Internet. On the App Info - Secure Home Internet page, tap on Notifications. To disable Android notifications, slide the switch for Allow Notifications to the left. To silence notifications, slide the switch for Show Silently to the right.
IMPORTANT: When you turn off Real-Time Scanning, your computer is left exposed to viruses and other threats. McAfee recommends that you always keep Real-Time Scanning active to ensure the safety of your computer.
Our antivirus software does a full system scan to remove viruses, Trojans, spyware, rootkits and more. Your PC gets a complete security check, helping ensure that all threats have been removed.
Re: Why am I paying more? If you have (Auto Renewal) turned on in your settings. Usually 30 days before your expiry date, you will be renewed at Full Price. To prevent such from occurring, you can go to Your account and turn off these settings before your expiry date.
About dark web
Stolen passwords and personal info from data breaches are often bought and sold on dark web marketplaces. To enable our Identity Protection abilities in products such as the new McAfee Security mobile app, McAfee infiltrates these illegal networks to identify personal info as it is being traded online.
What happens when an antivirus subscription expires? While each program will treat an expired subscription slightly different, generally speaking, most will still function in some way. You will normally be able to run a scan, but you likely won't be able to deal with any malware or security threats.
You can log into My Account on home.mcafee.com and change your Auto-Renewal settings at any time.
If the renewal price changes, we will notify you in advance so you always know what's going on. You can cancel your subscription or change your auto-renewal settings any time after purchase from your My Account page.
Unless you've uninstalled your products or purchased a different subscription service, you don't need to reinstall when you renew.