McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop up scam (Virus removal guide)

What is McAfee SECURITY ALERT?

McAfee SECURITY ALERT is a phishing SCAM that pretends to be a security alert from McAfee. The scam uses social engineering techniques, which are nothing new. The goal of the scammers is to trick victims into clicking on the link (button), downloading and installing malware, allowing push notifications. McAfee SECURITY ALERT is a fake and is in no way associated with McAfee and installed antivirus software.

Usually, such scams are promoted by aggressive and malicious push notifications, shady websites, misleading advertisements, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and Adware. In addition, users can stumble onto the “McAfee SECURITY ALERT” scam just by entering a misspelled web address.
 

QUICK LINKS

• What is McAfee SECURITY ALERT?
• Protection
• Removal

When users land on one of the sites running the scam, they are presented with an alert disguised as a McAfee security warning. This fake alert informs that the user’s computer is in risk, as it is allegedly infected with a virus as a result of visiting an unsafe or infected website. The user is prompted to take immediate action, run a computer scan.

It is important to emphasize that there are no websites capable of detecting that a computer has been infected, therefore websites making such claims are always scams. Such scams are usually used to promote malicious software that can forcibly redirect users to deceptive sites, promise fake features that they really do not have (for example, remove viruses, block ads), display unwanted ads, change browser settings to promote fake search engines, collect user personal data (including logins and passwords, browser history) and so on.

Often scammers try not only to force users to install/purchase unwanted software, but also to collect as much information as possible about their victims. The collected information can be used to make fraudulent purchases and unauthorized transfers, sold to criminals on the dark web, or other malicious purposes. Moreover, the criminals can use stolen email addresses to send spam and malspam (spam emails containing malware or links to malware).

To summarize, the McAfee SECURITY ALERT cannot be trusted, it can lead to malware infection, loss of data, financial losses, theft of personal information and other serious problems.

How to protect against McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam

To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is important to always keep in mind:

• There are no sites that can detect viruses and other security threats.
• Never install/purchase software promoted by scam sites, as it can be useless, and besides, it can be dangerous for you and your computer.
• Close McAfee SECURITY ALERT as soon as it appears on your computer screen. Scammers can prevent you from closing it in various ways. In such cases, close your browser using Task Manager or restart your computer. If the next time you launch the browser, it prompts you to restore the previous session, abandon it, otherwise this scam will reopen on your screen.
• Use an ad blocker when browsing the internet. It can block known scam sites and protect you from scammers.

Typically, scam sites first check the user’s IP address to determine their geolocation. Scammers, having determined the user’s location, can use various scam schemes, change the page language and redirect the user to other dangerous sites. In this particular case,the McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam showed different fake warnings, slightly different in content.

First variant:

Security Alert

You’ve visited illegal infected website
You have visited unsafe site with illegal content
Your PC is at risk of being infected by viruses
To continue browsing safely – perform an antivirus scan

Scan

Second variant:

McAfee
SECURITY ALERT

You visited infected website on: xxx
Your PC is at risk of being infected by viruses
PLEASE TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY, PERFORM A QUICK SCAN

QUICK SCAN

Third variant:

McAfee
WARNING: YOUR PC IS AT RISK!

Viruses can cause very serious consequences including:

credit card information being stolen
permanent data loss on your PC
sensitive data (email & social networks accounts) being stolen
spamming your email contacts

Are you sure you want to stop McAfee protection?

YES NO

Fourth variant:

McAfee
YOUR PC IS INFECTED WITH 5 VIRUSES

Recent scan found threats that may damage your PC
Take action immediately and launch McAfee Now
Start McAfee Protection Now?

START ANTIVIRUS

Threat Summary

Name	McAfee SECURITY ALERT
Type	scam, phishing, fake virus alerts
Fake claims	Your PC is infected with 5 viruses, You’ve visited illegal infected website, WARNING: YOUR PC IS AT RISK!, You have visited unsafe site with illegal content
Related web-domains	C4nc3l-sp33ch.xyz, Ta23ll-unli87ke.xyz, Protect-tool.xyz, Yourlocaldatasecurity.com, Bostewsom.shop, Protectorofpower.xyz, Mund35ane-cha11nnel.xyz, Totaldatasecurityservice.com, Safepc.xyz, Defender-scan.xyz, Thispcprotected.com
Symptoms	fake security warnings fake system messages pop-up errors fake McAfee (Norton, Windows Defender) system scan
Removal	McAfee SECURITY ALERT removal guide

 

Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired, Microsoft Windows Virus Alert, McAfee – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses, McAfee – Your PC Might Be Vulnerable are other scams designed to trick visitors into installing malware, purchasing unwanted software or calling fake tech support. Some of these scams are positioned as a legitimate Microsoft, McAfee sites, but in fact have nothing to do with Microsoft, and McAfee. The scam sites should never be trusted, they should be closed as soon as they appear on the screen.

The McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop ups are caused by malicious advertisements on websites you visit, push notifications or Adware. Browser (push) notifications are originally developed to alert the user of recently published news. Cyber criminals abuse ‘push notifications’ by displaying unwanted ads. These ads are displayed in the lower right corner of the screen urges users to play online games, visit questionable web-pages, install malicious browser add-ons & so on.

Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It’s a form of harmful software that shows unwanted ads to computer users. Some examples include popup advertisements, push notifications, fake alerts or unclosable windows.

How does Adware get on your computer

Most commonly, adware comes bundled with malicious downloads, fake updates and install packages from file sharing and torrents web-pages. So, install such software is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware or other malicious software.Remember, how to avoid the unwanted software. Be cautious, run only reputable apps which download from reputable sources/developers. NEVER install any unknown and questionable software!

How to remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-up scam from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

The following guidance will help you to get rid of the McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-ups from Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Moreover, the guide below will help you to delete malware, browser hijackers, potentially unwanted apps and toolbars that your computer may be infected. Please do the guide step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to close your web-browser or restart your computer.

To remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT, follow the steps below:

1. How to manually get rid of McAfee SECURITY ALERT
   • Uninstall recently installed adware
   • Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT notifications
   • Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-ups from Google Chrome
   • Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT popups from Internet Explorer
   • Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT from Firefox by resetting browser settings
2. Automatic Removal of McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-up scam
3. Stop McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop ups

How to manually get rid of McAfee SECURITY ALERT

In this section of the post, we have posted the steps that will allow to remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam manually. Although compared to removal utilities, this solution loses in time, but you don’t need to install anything on your PC. It will be enough for you to follow the detailed tutorial with pictures. We tried to describe each step in detail, but if you realized that you might not be able to figure it out, or simply do not want to change the MS Windows and web-browser settings, then it’s better for you to run tools from trusted developers, which are listed below.

Uninstall recently installed adware

Some programs are free only because their setup file contains an adware. This unwanted software generates revenue for its creators when it is installed. More often the adware can be removed by simply uninstalling it from the list of installed software that is located in the system control panel.

Windows 7	Windows 8
Click ‘Start’. In the Start menu select ‘Control Panel’. Find and select ‘Programs and Features’ or ‘Uninstall a program’. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows 10	Mac OS
Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	On the top menu select ‘Go’, then ‘Applications’. Drag an unwanted application to the Trash bin. Right-click on the ‘Trash’ and select ‘Empty Trash’.

Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT notifications

In some cases, the “McAfee SECURITY ALERT” pop-ups are push notifications. Push notifications are messages that pop up on a computer or a mobile device. Scammers can send them at any time; users don’t have to be in the web-browser or using their devices to receive them. To delete the spam notifications, complete the steps below. These steps are for MS Windows, Mac OS and Android.

Google Chrome:

• Just copy and paste the following text into the address bar of Chrome.
• chrome://settings/content/notifications
• Press Enter.
• Delete the McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam and other rogue notifications by clicking three vertical dots button next to each and selecting ‘Remove’.

 

 

Android:

• Open Chrome.
• In the top-right corner of the screen, tap on Google Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots.
• In the menu tap ‘Settings’, scroll down to ‘Advanced’.
• In the ‘Site Settings’, tap on ‘Notifications’, locate a site asscoiated with the McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam and tap on it.
• Tap the ‘Clean & Reset’ button and confirm.

 

 

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click on ‘three horizontal stripes’ button at the top right hand corner of the screen.
• In the menu go to ‘Options’, in the menu on the left go to ‘Privacy & Security’.
• Scroll down to ‘Permissions’ and then to ‘Settings’ next to ‘Notifications’.
• Select the McAfee SECURITY ALERT rogue domain from the list and change the status to ‘Block’.
• Save changes.

 

 

Edge:

• Click the More button (it looks like three dots) in the top right hand corner of the browser.
• Click ‘Settings’. Click ‘Advanced’ on the left side of the window.
• In the ‘Website permissions’ section click ‘Manage permissions’.
• Right-click a site related to the McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam. Click ‘Delete’.

 

 

Internet Explorer:

• Click ‘Tools’ button in the top right corner of the browser.
• Go to ‘Internet Options’ in the menu.
• Select the ‘Privacy’ tab and click ‘Settings under ‘Pop-up Blocker’ section.
• Select the McAfee SECURITY ALERT rogue domain and other dubious sites under and remove them one by one by clicking the ‘Remove’ button.

 

 

Safari:

• Go to ‘Preferences’ in the Safari menu.
• Open ‘Websites’ tab, then in the left menu click on ‘Notifications’.
• Check for McAfee SECURITY ALERT site, other questionable sites and apply the ‘Deny’ option for each.

Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-ups from Google Chrome

Reset Google Chrome settings will help you remove the McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam from web browser and disable malicious plugins. It will also clear cached and temporary data (cookies, site data and content). However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed or cleared.

First launch the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().

It will show the Google Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option called “Settings”.

The internet browser will display the settings screen. Another solution to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, such as the one below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation prompt as shown below.

You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The internet browser will start the process of cleaning. After it is complete, the internet browser’s settings including newtab, search provider and homepage back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your personal computer.

Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT popups from Internet Explorer

By resetting Internet Explorer you revert back your browser settings to its default state. This is first when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by adware software that causes McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop ups in your browser.

First, start the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown in the figure below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.

You will now need to restart your device for the changes to take effect.

Remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT from Firefox by resetting browser settings

If the Firefox web browser program is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Firefox settings such as homepage, new tab page and default search provider to their default state. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.

Launch the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web browser screen. Next, press the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the screen below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the adware. After, it is complete, click the “Finish” button.

Automatic Removal of McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-up scam

If you are unsure how to remove scam pop-ups easily, consider using automatic adware removal tools that listed below. The free tools are able to detect the adware, remove it from your computer and help you get rid of the McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-ups.

Get rid of McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop-ups with Zemana

If you need a free tool that can easily remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT popup scam, then use Zemana Anti Malware. This is a very handy program, which is primarily developed to quickly detect and remove adware and malicious software hijacking web browsers and changing their settings.

1. Installing the Zemana Free is simple. First you will need to download Zemana Free from the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   158191 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will show the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. Once the download is complete, please close all software and open windows on your PC. Next, start a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will start the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Free onto your PC. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana Anti-Malware will run and open the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button . Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) application will scan through the whole device for the adware software that causes multiple intrusive pop ups. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
7. As the scanning ends, the results are displayed in the scan report.
8. You may remove threats (move to Quarantine) by simply press the “Next” button. The utility will delete adware responsible for McAfee SECURITY ALERT scam and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine. When finished, you may be prompted to reboot the computer.
9. Close the Zemana Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

How to remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT with MalwareBytes Free

If you are having issues with McAfee SECURITY ALERT removal, then check out MalwareBytes Free. This is a utility that can help clean up your personal computer and improve your speeds for free. Find out more below.

1. MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   315412 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will open the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. Once downloading is complete, please close all applications and open windows on your device. Double-click on the icon that’s called MBSetup.
4. This will open the Setup wizard of MalwareBytes Anti Malware onto your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Free will run and open the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes will scan through the whole computer for the adware software that causes multiple scam pop ups. This task may take quite a while, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is done.
7. After finished, MalwareBytes will prepare a list of unwanted software and adware.
8. Make sure to check mark the items that are unsafe and then click the “Quarantine” button. After the cleaning process is complete, you may be prompted to reboot the PC.
9. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

Stop McAfee SECURITY ALERT pop ups

We advise to install an ad-blocking program that can block McAfee SECURITY ALERT and other scam pages. The ad blocker tool like AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the Internet and blocks access to malicious web-pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocking apps is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.

Visit the following page to download AdGuard. Save it to your Desktop.

After downloading it, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed on the screen below.

Follow the prompts. When the installation is finished, you will see a window as on the image below.

You can press “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your personal computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block McAfee SECURITY ALERT, as well as other malicious or misleading webpages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that can be found on your desktop.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block scam pop-ups, malicious and misleading webpages) and Zemana Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your PC for new malware, browser hijackers and adware software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, malicious applications and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove McAfee SECURITY ALERT from your web-browser, then ask for help here.