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Welcome to the first edition of This Week in Scams, a new weekly series from McAfee breaking down the latest fraud trends, headlines, and real-time threats we’re detecting across the digital landscape.
This week, we’re spotlighting the FBI’s shocking new cybercrime report, the rise of AI-generated deepfakes, and a sophisticated Gmail impersonation scam flagged by Google. We’re also seeing a surge in location-specific toll scams and fake delivery alerts—a reminder that staying ahead of scammers starts with knowing how they operate.
Let’s dive in.
$16.6 Billion Lost to Online Scams in 2024
The FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report is here—and the numbers are staggering. Americans lost $16.6 billion to online scams last year, up from $12.5 billion in 2023. Older adults and crypto investors were hit especially hard, but the agency warns the real total is likely much higher, since many victims never report the crime.
Read more
AI-Powered Deepfake Scams Get More Convincing
Deepfake-enabled fraud has already caused more than $200 million in financial losses in just the first quarter of 2025.
McAfee researchers estimate the average American sees three deepfakes per day, many of which are designed to mimic real people, services, or news stories. Whether it’s fake crypto pitches, job offers, or social media stunts—seeing is no longer believing.
Read more
Google Warns Users of Sophisticated Email Scam
Google is alerting Gmail users to a new type of phishing email that looks like it comes from Google itself. These messages often appear in legitimate email threads and pass all typical security checks, but lead victims to a cloned Google login page designed to steal credentials. The scam highlights how attackers are evolving to outsmart traditional filters.
Read more
McAfee Researchers have observed a recent surge in the following scam types:
Fake Delivery Notifications: Scammers impersonate delivery services like USPS, UPS, and FedEx, sending fake tracking links that install malware or steal payment info
Invoice Scams: Fraudulent messages that claim you owe money for a product or service, often accompanied by a fake invoice PDF or request for payment via phone
Cloud Storage Spoofs: Emails that pretend to be from Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, prompting you to “log in” to view shared files. The links lead to phishing sites designed to capture your credentials.
Toll Text Scams: Personalized smishing messages that claim you owe a toll and link to fake payment sites. These messages often use location data—like your area code or recent city visits—to appear legitimate. McAfee Labs saw toll scam texts spike nearly 4x between January and February.
This week, Steve Grobman, executive vice president and chief technology officer at McAfee, said the toll scam is effective because it hits all the correct social points for a consumer.
These scams often rely on urgency and familiarity—pretending to be something you trust or expect—to get you to act quickly without double-checking.
Thanks for reading—See you next week with more scam alerts, insights, and protection tips from the McAfee team.
The post This Week in Scams: $16.6 Billion Lost, Deepfakes Rise, and Google Email Scams Emerge appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Job scams are on the rise. And asking the right questions can help steer you clear of them.
That rise in job scams is steep, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Recent data shows that reported losses have grown five times over between 2020 and 2024. In 2024 alone, reported losses hit half a billion dollars, with unreported losses undoubtedly pushing actual losses yet higher.
Last week, we covered how “pay to get paid” scams account for a big chunk of online job scams. Here, we’ll cover a couple more that we’ve seen circulating on social media and via texts—and how some pointed questions can help you avoid them.
Some job scammers pose as recruiters from job agencies who reach potential victims the same way legitimate agencies do—by email, text, and networking sites. Sometimes this leaves people with their guard down because it’s not unheard of at all to get contacted this way, “out of the blue” so to speak.
Yet one of the quickest ways to spot a scammer is when the “recruiter” asks to pay a fee for the matchmaking, particularly if they ask for it up front. Legitimate headhunters, temp agencies, and staffing agencies typically get paid by the company or business that ultimately does the hiring. Job candidates don’t pay a thing.
Another form of scam occurs during the “onboarding” process of the job. The scammer happily welcomes the victim to the company and then informs them that they’ll need to take some online training and perhaps buy a computer or other office equipment. Of course, the scammer asks the victim to pay for all of it—leaving the victim out of hundreds of dollars and the scammer with their payment info.
One way you can spot a job scam is to press for answers. Asking pointed questions about a company and the job it’s offering, just as you would in any real interview, can reveal gaps in a scammer’s story. In effect, scammers are putting on an acting job, and some don’t thoroughly prepare for their role. They don’t think through the details, hoping that victims will be happy enough about a job prospect to ask too many questions.
If the hiring process moves quicker than expected or details about a job seem light, it’s indeed time to ask questions. Here are a few you can keep handy when you start to wonder if you have a scam on your hands …
This is a great place to start. Legitimate employers write up job listings that they post on their website and job sites. In those descriptions, the work and everything it entails gets spelled out to the letter. A real employer should be able to provide you with a job description or at least cover it clearly over the course of a conversation.
This one can trip up a scammer quickly. A scammer might avoid giving a physical address. Likewise, they might offer up a fake one. Either a non-answer or a lie can readily call out a scam by following up the question with a web search for a physical address. (Resources like the Better Business Bureau can also help you research a company and its track record.)
Asking about co-workers, bosses, reporting structures and the like can also help sniff out a scam. Real employers, once again, will have ready answers here. They might even start dropping names and details about people’s tenure and background. Meanwhile, this is one more place where scammers might tip their hand because they haven’t made up those details.
This question alone can offer a telltale sign. Many job scams move through the hiring process at relative breakneck speed—skipping past the usual interview loops and callbacks that many legitimate jobs have. Scammers want to turn over their victims quickly, so they’ll make the “hiring process” quick as well. If it feels like you’re blazing through the steps, it could be a scam.
Every business has a story, even if it’s still in its startup days. Anyone in a recruiting or hiring position will have a good handle on this question, as they will on any follow-up questions about the company’s mission or goals. Again, vagueness in response to these kinds of questions could be a sign of a scam.
Whether it’s through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and the like, scammers often reach out through direct messages. Recruiters stick to legitimate business networking sites like LinkedIn. Companies maintain established accounts on recruiting platforms that people know and trust, so view any contact outside of them as suspicious.
Scammers use the “hiring process” to trick people into providing their personal info with malicious links. Web protection, included in our plans, can steer you clear of them. Likewise, our Scam Detector scans URLs in your text messages and alerts you if they’re sketchy. If you accidentally click a bad link, both web and text scam protection will block a risky site.
Many scammers get your contact info from data broker sites. McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites, shows you which ones are selling your personal info, and, depending on your plan, can help you remove it. Our Social Privacy Manager lowers your public profile lower still. It helps you adjust more than 100 privacy settings across your social media accounts in just a few clicks, so your personal info is only visible to the people you want to share it with.
The post Interviewing for a Job? Spot a Scam with These Questions appeared first on McAfee Blog.
How does this job offer sound? When you pay, you get paid. Sounds fishy, right? In fact, it’s one of the fastest-growing job scams out there right now.
Looking at job scams overall, a data from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that job scam reports have nearly tripled between 2020 and 2024. Further, reported losses grew more than five times—spiking to $501 million in 2024.
In all, job scams are more common and more costly than ever.
And leading those losses is a new breed of job scam, where victims indeed “pay to get paid.”
The FTC has dubbed these “pay to get paid” scams as “gamified job scams” or “task scams.” Given the way these scams work, the naming fits. The work feels like a gamey task—and the only winner is the scammer.
It all plays out like this:
You get a job offer by text or private message. The scammer offers you “work” involving “app optimization” or “product boosting,” which they often describe in loose, hazy terms.
You accept the offer. Then the scammer sets you up with an account on an app or platform where you get tasked to “like” or “rate” sets of videos or product images online.
You get to work. The app or platform is fake, yet it looks like you’re racking up commissions as you click and complete sets of tasks. At this point the scammer might dole out a small payment or two, making you think the job truly is legit.
The scammer sets the hook. Here’s where the gamey “pay to get paid” part comes in—if you want more “work,” you must pay for it. At this point, the scammer requires a “deposit” for your next set of tasks. Like a video game, the scammer sweetens the deal by saying the next set can “level up” your earnings.
You get scammed. You make the deposit, complete the task set, and try to get your earnings from the app or platform—only to find that the scammer and your money are gone. It was all fake.
Based on what we’ve seen in the past, these scams borrow from other “easy money” con games found on payment apps. “Easy money” scams build slowly as scammers build a false sense of trust with victims by making small returns on small investments over time. Finally, with the con set, the scammer asks for a huge amount and disappears with it. “Pay to get paid” scams can work much the same way.
A few things to keep in mind about this scam as well:
Step one—ignore job offers over text and social media
A proper recruiter will reach out to you by email or via a job networking site. Moreover, they’ll give you clear details about a possible job, and they’ll answer any questions you have just as clearly.
Quite the opposite, scammers write vague texts and private messages. They’re often big on hype but short on details. Asking questions about the job will get you similarly vague answers. Ignore these offers.
Step two—look up the company
In the case of online job offers in general, look up the company. Check out their background and see if it’s an actual company—and see if that matches up with what that recruiter is telling you.
In the U.S., you have several resources that can help you answer that question. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) offers a searchable listing of businesses in the U.S., along with a brief profile, a rating, and even a list of complaints (and company responses) waged against them. Spending some time here can quickly shed light on the legitimacy of a company.
For a listing of businesses with U.S. and international locations, organizations like S&P Global Ratings and the Dun and Bradstreet Corporation can provide background info as well.
Lastly, check out the company’s website. See if it has a job listing that matches the one you’re offered. Legwork like this can help uncover a scam.
Step three—refuse to pay
As simple as it sounds, don’t pay to get paid.
Any case where you’re asked to pay to up front, with any form of payment, refuse. A legitimate employer will never ask you to invest or deposit a small amount of money with the promise of a big return. And a legitimate employer will provide you with things like training or equipment to do the job you’re qualified for.
Online protection software like ours can help keep you far safer from job scams and scams in general. Specific to job scams, here are just a few ways it can help:
The post “Pay to Get Paid” – The New Job Scam That’s Raking in Millions Right Now appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As Tax Day looms and last-minute taxpayers feel the pressure, a surge of IRS scams is on the rise.
Research by our McAfee Labs team projects a fresh wave of sophisticated tax scams as the stress of peak filing season sets in, with bogus text messages leading the way.
Nearly half of taxpayers complete their taxes between mid-March and April 15, which gives scammers ample opportunity to cash in as people rush their filings with the IRS.
Based on our data from 2024, here’s what we can expect in the coming days:
In addition to posing as the IRS, scammers will pose as tax prep and tax software companies as well. Just as in years past, taxpayers can further expect scams built around quick refunds and easy filing solutions that are actually fronts for scams. Yet whatever guise scammers put on, their aim remains the same. They want to dupe taxpayers out of their personal and financial info.
Tax season is high season for scammers because so much personal info gets gathered and shared online. With that, many taxpayers have their guard down. They expect to see messages, ads, and so forth about their taxes, which can make them more willing to share some of their most personal info. That’s where scammers step in. They want to:
Looking at this list, you can see what makes tax scams so damaging. Many of them target our most precious of personal info—our Social Security Numbers (SSNs).
A stolen SSN opens the door to some of the most painful forms of identity theft, like imposter fraud, insurance fraud, employment fraud, and more. These follow-on attacks can cause great harm to a victim’s finances and reputation in ways that can take months, or even years, to repair.
In effect, tax scams deliver a one-two punch.
It begins by baiting the victim with a phony message from a scammer posing as the IRS, a tax prep business, or a tax software company. That might come by email, a direct message on social media, or even in paid search results.
Largely, scammers bait victims with texts. Mobile attacks indeed dominate the preferred contact method, just as we called out. Here, scammers often use link shorteners to disguise fraudulent links. (You’ve likely seen plenty of link shorteners like bit.ly and goo.gl. They make it easier to share long addresses, but the flipside is that there’s no quick way to tell where they really take you.)
In some cases, scammers attempt to trick taxpayers by weaving “irs.gov” into the web address. Below you can see one example, where the domain isn’t “irs.gov.” It’s actually “entes-tax[dot]com,” which leads to a scam site.
Scam texts that weave “irs.gov” into a malicious link
As for the text itself, scammers send urgent-sounding messages about tax returns like, “Your refund is on hold, contact the IRS immediately.” Other scammers use fear, leveling threats like jail time for non-payment. In other cases, scammers threaten to revoke things like driver’s licenses and business licenses, or even immigration status. According to the IRS, these are common signs of a scam. The IRS never uses threats or tactics like these to resolve tax issues.
The second punch comes by clicking the link in these messages, which leads to IRS copycat scam sites. And they can look convincing. The most sophisticated of them mirror the look and feel of the official IRS website and use URLs that look “close enough” to an IRS URL, which can trick anyone who doesn’t examine them closely.
Example of a fake IRS claim website
And that’s where the damage gets done. Under the false pretense of receiving a refund or making a payment, the scammers collect that precious personal info we talked about, which can cause short- and long-term fallout for victims.
The same approach works for scammers who pose as tax prep services and tax software companies. The texts and websites look different, yet they’re still part of a scheme for collecting the same types of personal and financial info.
Clever as these scams are, you can avoid them. The first step is awareness. By reading this article and sharing it with others, you spread the word about these scams and just how rampant they are.
From there, you can take several more steps that can keep you far safer during tax time:
The post Your Phone Is the #1 Target in a New Wave of IRS Scams, McAfee Finds appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Al Roker never had a heart attack. He doesn’t have hypertension. But if you watched a recent deepfake video of him that spread across Facebook, you might think otherwise.
In a recent segment on NBC’s TODAY, Roker revealed that a fake AI-generated video was using his image and voice to promote a bogus hypertension cure—claiming, falsely, that he had suffered “a couple of heart attacks.”
“A friend of mine sent me a link and said, ‘Is this real?'” Roker told investigative correspondent Vicky Nguyen. “And I clicked on it, and all of a sudden, I see and hear myself talking about having a couple of heart attacks. I don’t have hypertension!”
The fabricated clip looked and sounded convincing enough to fool friends and family—including some of Roker’s celebrity peers. “It looks like me! I mean, I can tell that it’s not me, but to the casual viewer, Al Roker’s touting this hypertension cure… I’ve had some celebrity friends call because their parents got taken in by it.”
While Meta quickly removed the video from Facebook after being contacted by TODAY, the damage was done. The incident highlights a growing concern in the digital age: how easy it is to create—and believe—convincing deepfakes.
“We used to say, ‘Seeing is believing.’ Well, that’s kind of out the window now,” Roker said.
Al Roker isn’t the first public figure to be targeted by deepfake scams. Taylor Swift was recently featured in an AI-generated video promoting fake bakeware sales. Tom Hanks has spoken out about a fake dental plan ad that used his image without permission. Oprah, Brad Pitt, and others have faced similar exploitation.
These scams don’t just confuse viewers—they can defraud them. Criminals use the trust people place in familiar faces to promote fake products, lure them into shady investments, or steal their personal information.
“It’s frightening,” Roker told his co-anchors Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. Craig added: “What’s scary is that if this is where the technology is now, then five years from now…”
Nguyen demonstrated just how simple it is to create a fake using free online tools, and brought in BrandShield CEO Yoav Keren to underscore the point: “I think this is becoming one of the biggest problems worldwide online,” Keren said. “I don’t think that the average consumer understands…and you’re starting to see more of these videos out there.”
According to McAfee’s State of the Scamiverse report, the average American sees 2.6 deepfake videos per day, with Gen Z seeing up to 3.5 daily. These scams are designed to be believable—because the technology makes it possible to copy someone’s voice, mannerisms, and expressions with frightening accuracy.
And it doesn’t just affect celebrities:
While the technology behind deepfakes is advancing, there are still ways to spot—and stop—them:
And most importantly, be skeptical of celebrity endorsements on social media. If it seems out of character or too good to be true, it probably is.
McAfee’s Deepfake Detector, powered by AMD’s Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the new Ryzen AI 300 Series processors, identifies manipulated audio and video in real time—giving users a critical edge in spotting fakes.
This technology runs locally on your device for faster, private detection—and peace of mind.
Al Roker’s experience shows just how personal—and persuasive—deepfake scams have become. They blur the line between truth and fiction, targeting your trust in the people you admire.
With McAfee, you can fight back.
The post ‘Seeing is Believing is Out the Window’: What to Learn From the Al Roker AI Deepfake Scam appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Dexter Shin
Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their techniques to bypass security measures. Recently, the McAfee Mobile Research Team discovered malware campaigns abusing .NET MAUI, a cross-platform development framework, to evade detection. These threats disguise themselves as legitimate apps, targeting users to steal sensitive information. This blog highlights how these malware operate, their evasion techniques, and key recommendations for staying protected.
In recent years, cross-platform mobile development frameworks have grown in popularity. Many developers use tools like Flutter and React Native to build apps that work on both Android and iOS. Among these tools, Microsoft provides a framework based on C#, called Xamarin. Since Xamarin is well-known, cybercriminals sometimes use it to develop malware. We have previously found malware related to this framework. However, Microsoft ended support for Xamarin in May 2024 and introduced .NET MAUI as its replacement.
Unlike Xamarin, .NET MAUI expands platform support beyond mobile to include Windows and macOS. It also runs on .NET 6+, replacing the older .NET Standard, and introduces performance optimizations with a lightweight handler-based architecture instead of custom renderers.
As technology evolves, cybercriminals adapt as well. Reflecting this trend, we recently discovered new Android malware campaigns developed using .NET MAUI. These Apps have their core functionalities written entirely in C# and stored as blob binaries. This means that unlike traditional Android apps, their functionalities do not exist in DEX files or native libraries. However, many antivirus solutions focus on analyzing these components to detect malicious behavior. As a result, .NET MAUI can act as a type of packer, allowing malware to evade detection and remain active on devices for a long time.
In the following sections, we will introduce two Android malware campaigns that use .NET MAUI to evade detection. These threats disguise themselves as legitimate services to steal sensitive information from users. We will explore how they operate and why they pose a significant risk to mobile security.
McAfee Mobile Security already detects all of these apps as Android/FakeApp and protects users from these threats. For more information about our Mobile Product, visit McAfee Mobile Security.
While we found multiple versions of these malicious apps, the following two examples are used to demonstrate how they evade detection.
First off, where are users finding these malicious apps? Often, these apps are distributed through unofficial app stores. Users are typically directed to such stores by clicking on phishing links made available by untrusted sources on messaging groups or text messages. This is why we recommend at McAfee that users avoid clicking on untrusted links.
The first fake app we found disguises itself as IndusInd Bank, specifically targeting Indian users. When a user launches the app, it prompts them to input personal and financial details, including their name, phone number, email, date of birth, and banking information. Once the user submits this data, it is immediately sent to the attacker’s C2 (Command and Control) server.
Figure 1. Fake IndusInd Bank app’s screen requesting user information
As mentioned earlier, this is not a traditional Android malware. Unlike typical malicious apps, there are no obvious traces of harmful code in the Java or native code. Instead, the malicious code is hidden within blob files located inside the assemblies directory.
Figure 2. Blob contains malicious code
The following code snippet reveals how the app collects and transmits user data to the C2 server. Based on the code, the app structures the required information as parameters before sending it to the C2 server.
Figure 3. C# code responsible for stealing user data and sending it to the C2 server
In contrast to the first fake app, this second malware is even more difficult for security software to analyze. It specifically targets Chinese-speaking users and attempts to steal contacts, SMS messages, and photos from their devices. In China, where access to the Google Play Store is restricted, such apps are often distributed through third-party websites or alternative app stores. This allows attackers to spread their malware more easily, especially in regions with limited access to official app stores.
Figure 4. Distribution site and fake X app targeting Chinese-speaking users
One of the key techniques this malware uses to remain undetected is multi-stage dynamic loading. Instead of directly embedding its malicious payload in an easily accessible format, it encrypts and loads its DEX files in three separate stages, making analysis significantly more difficult.
In the first stage, the app’s main activity, defined in AndroidManifest.xml, decrypts an XOR-encrypted file and loads it dynamically. This initial file acts as a loader for the next stage. In the second stage, the dynamically loaded file decrypts another AES-encrypted file and loads it. This second stage still does not reveal the core malicious behavior but serves as another layer of obfuscation. Finally, in the third stage, the decrypted file contains code related to the .NET MAUI framework, which is then loaded to execute the main payload.
Figure 5. Multi-stage dynamic loading
The main payload is ultimately hidden within the C# code. When the user interacts with the app, such as pressing a button, the malware silently steals their data and sends it to the C2 server.
Figure 6. C# code responsible for stealing images, contacts, and SMS data
Beyond multi-stage dynamic loading, this malware also employs additional tricks to make analysis more difficult. One technique is manipulating the AndroidManifest.xml file by adding an excessive number of unnecessary permissions. These permissions include large amounts of meaningless, randomly generated strings, which can cause errors in certain analysis tools. This tactic helps the malware evade detection by disrupting automated scanners and static analysis.
Figure 7. AndroidManifest.xml file with excessive random permissions
Another key technique is encrypted socket communication. Instead of using standard HTTP requests, which are easier to intercept, the malware relies on TCP socket connections to transmit data. This approach makes it difficult for traditional HTTP proxy tools to capture network traffic. Additionally, the malware encrypts the data before sending it, meaning that even if the packets are intercepted, their contents remain unreadable.
One more important aspect to note is that this malware adopts various themes to attract users. In addition to the fake X app, we also discovered several dating apps that use the same techniques. These apps had different background images but shared the same structure and functionality, indicating that they were likely created by the same developer as the fake X app. The continuous emergence of similar apps suggests that this malware is being widely distributed among Chinese-speaking users.
Figure 8. Various fake apps using the same technique
The rise of .NET MAUI-based malware highlights how cybercriminals are evolving their techniques to avoid detection. Some of the techniques described include:
With these evasion techniques, the threats can remain hidden for long periods, making analysis and detection significantly more challenging. Furthermore, the discovery of multiple variants using the same core techniques suggests that this type of malware is becoming increasingly common.
Users should always be cautious when downloading and installing apps from unofficial sources, as these platforms are often exploited by attackers to distribute malware. This is especially concerning in countries like China, where access to official app stores is restricted, making users more vulnerable to such threats.
To keep up with the rapid evolution of cybercriminal tactics, users are strongly advised to install security software on their devices and keep it up to date at all times. Staying vigilant and ensuring that security measures are in place can help protect against emerging threats. By using McAfee Mobile Security, users can enhance their device protection and detect threats related to this type of malware in real-time.
Glossary of Terms
Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)
APKs:
C2:
The post New Android Malware Campaigns Evading Detection Using Cross-Platform Framework .NET MAUI appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Cybercriminals are getting smarter. They’re now using a development toolkit called .NET MAUI to create fake apps that look and feel like the real thing—banking apps, dating apps, and even social media. But instead of helping you, these apps secretly steal your private info.
We break down the full research from McAfee Labs here:
.NET MAUI is a tool used by developers to build apps that work on many devices—like phones, tablets, and computers—all from one set of code.
That’s great for app creators. But now, hackers are using it too. While McAfee is able to detect this malware, the decision to build with .NET MAUI helps hide their dangerous code from most antivirus software. Think of it like a thief wearing an invisibility cloak—unless you’re really looking, you won’t see them.
Hackers are creating apps that look like they’re from real companies. For example, one fake app pretended to be IndusInd Bank, asking users to enter sensitive information like:
Once you hit submit, that info goes straight to the hacker’s server.
Figure 1. Fake IndusInd Bank app’s screen requesting user information
Normal Android apps have code in a format security tools can scan. These fake apps hide their code in binary files so it can’t be easily detected. That lets them stay on your phone longer—stealing quietly in the background.
In another case, hackers made an app that pretended to be a social media platform. This one targeted Chinese-speaking users and was even trickier than the fake bank app.
Here’s what it did:
And instead of using regular internet traffic, it sent stolen data through secret encrypted channels—so even if someone intercepted it, they couldn’t read it.
Figure 2. Various fake apps using the same technique
These apps aren’t in the Google Play Store. Instead, hackers are sharing them on:
So if someone sends you a link to a cool new app that’s not from the Play Store—be extra careful.
Here are a few easy ways to stay safe:
Hackers are getting creative, but you can stay one step ahead. These new .NET MAUI-based threats are sneaky—but they’re not unstoppable.
With smart habits and the right tools, you can keep your phone and your personal info safe. Want real-time protection on your phone? Download McAfee+ and get ahead of the latest threats.
The post New Android Malware Sneaks Past Security by Pretending to Be Real Apps appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The collapse of genetic testing giant 23andMe has raised serious privacy concerns for millions of people who shared their DNA with the company. Once valued at $6 billion, the company has filed for bankruptcy and is now selling off assets—including, potentially, your genetic data.
If you’ve ever used 23andMe to explore your ancestry or health traits, now is the time to take action.
Here’s what’s going on, what it means for your data, how to delete your account, and steps you can take to better protect your online privacy going forward.
23andMe, once a pioneer in at-home genetic testing, has fallen into financial distress after a series of challenges, including a massive data breach in 2023 that exposed personal information of nearly 7 million users, according to TechCrunch. The company’s value plummeted by more than 99%, leading to mass board resignations and a March 2024 bankruptcy filing.
Now, as 23andMe prepares to sell off its assets under court supervision, its massive database of customer DNA—reportedly from more than 15 million users—is on the table. Despite the company’s assurances that its privacy policy remains in effect, experts and privacy advocates warn that your sensitive genetic data could end up in the hands of third parties, including pharmaceutical companies or even law enforcement agencies.
If you used 23andMe, yes.
Genetic data is some of the most personal information you can share. It can reveal details about your ancestry, health risks, and even family secrets. With 23andMe not covered by HIPAA (the federal health privacy law), your DNA data isn’t protected the way medical records at a doctor’s office would be, The Harvard Gazette reports.
Although 23andMe claims it won’t share individual-level data without consent, it does reserve the right to sell or transfer personal information as part of a bankruptcy or acquisition. That means your data could be bought by another company—one with different privacy practices or intentions.
California residents, in particular, have the legal right to delete their data under the Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
If you’re ready to take action, here’s how to delete your genetic data and revoke research permissions through your 23andMe account:
Your DNA isn’t the only personal data at risk. From email addresses and home addresses to phone numbers and even shopping habits, data brokers are collecting and selling your information online—often without your knowledge or consent.
That’s why it’s critical to take control of your digital footprint. All McAfee+ plans provide the ability to scan the web for details of your personal information. McAfee’s Online Account Cleanup scans for accounts you no longer use and helps you delete them, along with your personal info. McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup, takes this a step further, by scanning data broker sites for your personal information, and requesting the removal of you details from those sites.
Combined, these tools can give you back control over your privacy. All our McAfee+ plans include scans to find your accounts and direct you on how to remove your data.
Bottom Line: If you’ve ever used 23andMe, your genetic data could be at risk of being transferred or sold. Take action now by deleting your account and revoking permissions. And to keep the rest of your personal data protected, use tools like McAfee+ to keep your personal data safe online.
The post How to Delete Your Data from 23andMe and Protect Your Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Online scams are evolving faster than ever, with cybercriminals using AI, deepfake technology, and social engineering to trick unsuspecting users.
In the past year, Americans have been targeted by an average of 14 scam messages per day, and deepfake scams have surged 1,740% in North America, according to McAfee’s State of the Scamiverse report.
These scams go beyond simple phishing emails—scammers now impersonate trusted companies, friends, and even loved ones, making it critical to recognize the warning signs before falling victim.
Here’s how you can spot an online scam and protect yourself:
Scams are scary, but you can prevent yourself from falling for one by knowing what to look for. Here are a few tell-tale signs that you’re dealing with a scammer.
If you get a message that you’ve won a big sum of cash in a sweepstakes you don’t remember entering, it’s a scam. Scammers may tell you that all you need to do to claim your prize is send them a small fee or give them your banking information.
When you enter a real sweepstakes or lottery, it’s generally up to you to contact the organizer to claim your prize. Sweepstakes aren’t likely to chase you down to give you money.
Scammers will often ask you to pay them using gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin), or through a particular money transfer service. Scammers need payments in forms that don’t give consumers protection.
Gift card payments, for example, are typically not reversible and hard to trace. Legitimate organizations will rarely, if ever, ask you to pay using a specific method, especially gift cards.
When you have to make online payments, it’s a good idea to use a secure service like PayPal. Secure payment systems can have features to keep you safe, like end-to-end encryption.
Scammers may try to make you panic by saying you owe money to a government agency and you need to pay them immediately to avoid being arrested. Or the criminal might try to tug at your heartstrings by pretending to be a family member in danger who needs money.
Criminals want you to pay them or give them your information quickly — before you have a chance to think about it. If someone tries to tell you to pay them immediately in a text message, phone call, or email, they’re likely a scammer.
Many scammers pretend to be part of government organizations like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They’ll claim you owe them money. Criminals can even use technology to make their phone numbers appear legitimate on your caller ID.
If someone claiming to be part of a government organization contacts you, go to that organization’s official site and find an official support number or email. Contact them to verify the information in the initial message.
Scammers may also pretend to be businesses, like your utility company. They’ll likely say something to scare you, like your gas will be turned off if you don’t pay them right away.
Most legitimate organizations will thoroughly proofread any copy or information they send to consumers. Professional emails are well-written, clear, and error-free. On the other hand, scam emails will likely be full of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
It might surprise you to know that scammers write sloppy emails on purpose. The idea is that if the reader is attentive enough to spot the grammatical mistakes, they likely won’t fall for the scam.
There are certain scams that criminals try repeatedly because they’ve worked on so many people. Here are a few of the most common scams you should watch out for.
A phishing scam can be a phone or email scam. The criminal sends a message in which they pretend to represent an organization you know. It directs you to a fraud website that collects your sensitive information, like your passwords, Social Security number (SSN), and bank account data. Once the scammer has your personal information, they can use it for personal gain.
Phishing emails may try anything to get you to click on their fake link. They might claim to be your bank and ask you to log into your account to verify some suspicious activity. Or they could pretend to be a sweepstakes and say you need to fill out a form to claim a large reward.
During the coronavirus pandemic, new phishing scams have emerged, with scammers claiming to be part of various charities and nonprofits. Sites like Charity Navigator can help you discern real groups from fake ones.
These scams also became much more prominent during the pandemic. Let’s say you’re preparing to fly to Paris with your family. A scammer sends you a message offering you an insurance policy on any travel plans you might be making. They’ll claim the policy will compensate you if your travel plans fall through for any reason without any extra charges.
You think it might be a good idea to purchase this type of insurance. Right before leaving for your trip, you have to cancel your plans. You go to collect your insurance money only to realize the insurance company doesn’t exist.
Real travel insurance from a licensed business generally won’t cover foreseeable events (like travel advisories, government turmoil, or pandemics) unless you buy a Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) addendum for your policy.
Grandparent scams prey on your instinct to protect your family. The scammer will call or send an email pretending to be a family member in some sort of emergency who needs you to wire them money. The scammer may beg you to act right away and avoid sharing their situation with any other family members.
For example, the scammer might call and say they’re your grandchild who’s been arrested in Mexico and needs money to pay bail. They’ll say they’re in danger and need you to send funds now to save them.
If you get a call or an email from an alleged family member requesting money, take the time to make sure they’re actually who they say they are. Never wire transfer money right away or over the phone. Ask them a question that only the family member would know and verify their story with the rest of your family.
You get an email from a prince. They’ve recently inherited a huge fortune from a member of their royal family. Now, the prince needs to keep their money in an American bank account to keep it safe. If you let them store their money in your bank account, you’ll be handsomely rewarded. You just need to send them a small fee to get the money.
There are several versions of this scam, but the prince iteration is a pretty common one. If you get these types of emails, don’t respond or give out your financial information.
Your online experience is rudely interrupted when a pop-up appears telling you there’s a huge virus on your computer. You need to “act fast” and contact the support phone number on the screen. If you don’t, all of your important data will be erased.
When you call the number, a fake tech support worker asks you for remote access to your device to “fix” the problem. If you give the scammer access to your device, they may steal your personal and financial information or install malware. Worse yet, they’ll probably charge you for it.
These scams can be pretty elaborate. A scam pop-up may even appear to be from a reputable software company. If you see this type of pop-up, don’t respond to it. Instead, try restarting or turning off your device. If the device doesn’t start back up, search for the support number for the device manufacturer and contact them directly.
Scammers will often pose as popular e-commerce companies by creating fake websites. The fake webpages might offer huge deals on social media. They’ll also likely have a URL close to the real business’s URL but slightly different.
Sometimes, a criminal is skilled enough to hack the website of a large online retailer. When a scammer infiltrates a retailer’s website, they can redirect where the links on that site lead. This is called formjacking.
For example, you might go to an e-commerce store to buy a jacket. You find the jacket and put it in your online shopping cart. You click “check out,” and you’re taken to a form that collects your credit card information. What you don’t know is that the checkout form is fake. Your credit card number is going directly to the scammers.
Whenever you’re redirected from a website to make a payment or enter in information, always check the URL. If the form is legitimate, it will have the same URL as the site you were on. A fake form will have a URL that’s close to but not exactly the same as the original site.
These scams are similar to tech support scams. However, instead of urging you to speak directly with a fake tech support person, their goal is to get you to download a fake antivirus software product (scareware).
You’ll see a pop-up that says your computer has a virus, malware, or some other problem. The only way to get rid of the problem is to install the security software the pop-up links to. You think you’re downloading antivirus software that will save your computer.
What you’re actually downloading is malicious software. There are several types of malware. The program might be ransomware that locks up your information until you pay the scammers or spyware that tracks your online activity.
To avoid this scam, never download antivirus software from a pop-up. You’ll be much better off visiting the website of a reputable company, like McAfee, to download antivirus software.
Dealing with credit card debt can be extremely stressful. Scammers know this and try to capitalize off it. They’ll send emails posing as credit experts and tell you they can help you fix your credit or relieve some of your debt. They might even claim they can hide harmful details on your credit report.
All you have to do is pay a small fee. Of course, after you pay the fee, the “credit expert” disappears without helping you out with your credit at all. Generally, legitimate debt settlement firms won’t charge you upfront. If a credit relief company charges you a fee upfront, that’s a red flag.
Before you enter into an agreement with any credit service, check out their reputation. Do an online search on the company to see what you can find. If there’s nothing about the credit repair company online, it’s probably fake.
Admitting that you’ve fallen for an online scam can be embarrassing. But reporting a scammer can help stop them from taking advantage of anyone else. If you’ve been the victim of an online scam, try contacting your local police department and filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Several other law enforcement organizations handle different types of fraud. Here are a few examples of institutions that can help you report scams.
Fraudsters shouldn’t stop you from enjoying your time online. Just by learning to spot an online scam, you can greatly strengthen your immunity to cybercrimes.
For an even greater internet experience, you’ll want the right tools to protect yourself online. McAfee+ can help you confidently surf the web by providing all-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy. This includes identity protection — which comes with 24/7 monitoring of your email addresses and bank accounts — and antivirus software to help safeguard your internet connection.
Get the peace of mind that comes with McAfee having your back.
The post How to Recognize an Online Scammer appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s the month of top seeds, big upsets, and Cinderella runs by the underdogs. With March Madness basketball cranking up, a fair share of online betting will be sure to follow—along with online betting scams.
Since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2018, individual states can determine their own laws for sports betting. Soon after, states leaped at the opportunity to legalize it in some form or other. Today, nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia have “live and legal” sports betting, meaning that people can bet on single-game sports through a retail or online sportsbook or a combination of the two in their state.
And it has made billions of dollars for the government.
If you’re a sports fan, this news has probably been hard to miss. Or at least the outcome of it all has been hard to miss. Commercials and signage in and around games promote several major online betting platforms. Ads have naturally made their way online too, complete with all kinds of promo offers to encourage people to get in on the action. However, that’s also opened the door for scammers who’re looking to take advantage of people looking to make a bet online, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Often through shady or outright phony betting sites.
Let’s take a look at the online sports betting landscape, some of the scams that are cropping up, and some things you can do to make a safer bet this March or any time.
Among the 30 states that have “live and legal” sports betting, 19 offer online betting, a number that will likely grow given various state legislation that’s either been introduced or will be introduced soon.
If you’re curious about what’s available in your state, this interactive map shows the status of sports betting on a state-by-state level. Further, clicking on an individual state on the map will give you yet more specifics, such as the names of retail sportsbooks and online betting services that are legal in the state. For anyone looking to place a bet, this is a good place to start. It’s also helpful for people who are looking to get into online sports betting for the first time, as this is the sort of homework that the BBB advises people to do before placing a sports bet online. In their words, you can consider these sportsbooks to be “white-labeled” by your state’s gaming commission.
However, the BBB stresses that people should be aware that the terms and conditions associated with online sports betting will vary from service to service, as will the promotions that they offer. The BBB accordingly advises people to closely read these terms, conditions and offers. For one, “Gambling companies can restrict a user’s activity,” meaning that they can freeze accounts and the funds associated with them based on their terms and conditions. Also, the BBB cautions people about those promo offers that are often heavily advertised, “[L]ike any sales pitch, these can be deceptive. Be sure to read the fine print carefully.”
Where do scammers enter the mix? The BBB points to the rise of consumer complaints around bogus betting sites:
“You place a bet, and, at first, everything seems normal. But as soon as you try to cash out your winnings, you find you can’t withdraw a cent. Scammers will make up various excuses. For example, they may claim technical issues or insist on additional identity verification. In other cases, they may require you to deposit even more money before you can withdraw your winnings. Whatever you do, you’ll never be able to get your money off the site. And any personal information you shared is now in the hands of scam artists.”
If there’s a good reason you should stick to the “white labeled” sites that are approved by your state’s gaming commission, this is it. Take a pass on any online ads that promote betting sites, particularly if they roll out big and almost too-good-to-be-true offers. These may lead you to shady or bogus sites. Instead, visit the ones that are approved in your state by typing in their address directly into your browser.
In addition to what we mentioned above, there are several other things you can do to make your betting safer.
In addition to choosing a state-approved option, check out the organization’s BBB listing at BBB.org. Here you can get a snapshot of customer ratings, complaints registered against the organization, and the organization’s response to the complaints, along with its BBB rating, if it has one. Doing a little reading here can be enlightening, giving you a sense of what issues arise and how the organization has historically addressed them. For example, you may see a common complaint and how it’s commonly resolved. You may also see where the organization has simply chosen not to respond, all of which can shape your decision whether to bet with them or not.
Credit cards are a good way to go. One reason why is the Fair Credit Billing Act, which offers protection against fraudulent charges on credit cards by giving you the right to dispute charges over $50 for goods and services that were never delivered or otherwise billed incorrectly. Your credit card companies may have their own policies that improve upon the Fair Credit Billing Act as well. Debit cards don’t get the same protection under the Act.
Comprehensive online protection software will defend you against the latest virus, malware, spyware, and ransomware attacks plus further protect your privacy and identity. In addition to this, it can also provide strong password protection by generating and automatically storing complex passwords to keep your credentials safer from hackers and crooks who may try to force their way into your accounts. And, specific to betting sites, online protection can help prevent you from clicking links to known or suspected malicious sites.
With online betting cropping up in more and more states for more and more people, awareness of how it works and how scammers have set up their presence within it becomes increasingly important. Research is key, such as knowing who the state-approved sportsbooks and services are, what types of betting are allowed, and where. By sticking to these white-label offerings and reading the fine print in terms, conditions, and promo offers, people can make online betting safer and more enjoyable.
Editor’s Note: If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, you can seek assistance from a qualified service or professional. Several states have their own helplines, and nationally you can reach out to resources like http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ or https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/.
The post How to Protect Yourself from March Madness Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Aayush Tyagi and M, Mohanasundaram
*Bold = Term Defined in Appendix
In this blog, we discuss how malware authors recently utilized a popular new trend to entice unsuspecting users into installing malware. This blog is meant as a reminder to stay cautious during a hype cycle. It’s a common trap and pitfall for unassuming consumers.
Figure 1: DeepSeek Google Search Trend from 1st January to 7th March
Malware creators frequently exploit trending search terms through hashtags and SEO manipulation to boost visibility and climb search rankings. This tactic, known as SEO poisoning, helps drive traffic to malicious sites, increasing downloads or earning rewards through affiliate programs. Recently, “AI” (Artificial Intelligence) has been one of the most popular keywords leveraged in these scams. Earlier this year, “DeepSeek” also gained traction, even surpassing “Nvidia” at its peak in search interest.
Let’s look at how we got here. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are transforming the world at an unprecedented pace, right before our eyes. In recent years, we’ve witnessed remarkable advancements in Generative AI, from the development of highly successful frontier of LLM’s (Large Language Models) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, LLaMA, Grok, etc., to their applications as coding assistants (GitHub Co-pilot or Tabnine), meeting assistants, and voice cloning software among the more popular ones.
These tools are pervasive and easily available at your fingertips. In today’s world AI isn’t just a complicated term utilized by select organizations, it’s now adopted by every household in one way or another and is reshaping entire industries and economies.
With the good comes the bad, and unfortunately AI has enabled an accelerated ecosystem of scammers adopting these tools – examples are:
Besides the application of AI tools that empower scammers, there is the good old use case of piggybacking on popular news trends, where popular search terms are used to bait gullible users (read our blog on how game cracks are used as lures to deliver malware). One such popular news-worthy term that is being abused is DeepSeek, which McAfee discussed early this year.
The launch of the DeepSeek-R1 model (by DeepSeek, a Chinese company) generated significant buzz. The model is claimed to have been innovated so that the cost of building and using the technology is a fraction1 of the cost compared to other Generative AI models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o or Meta’s Llama 3.1. Moreover, the R1 model was released in January 2025 under an Open-Source license.
Within a few days of the release of the DeepSeek-R1 model, the Deepseek AI assistant—a chatbot for the R1 model—was launched on the Apple App Store and later the Google Play Store. In both app stores, Deepseek’s chatbot, which is an alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, took the No. 1 spot and has been downloaded over 30 million times.
This stirred up the curiosity of many who wanted to experiment with the model. The interest spiked to a point where the DeepSeek website wasn’t available at times due to the sheer volume of people trying to set up accounts or download their app. This sense of excitement, anxiety, and impatience is exactly what scammers look for in their victims. It wasn’t shortly after the term went “viral” that scammers saw an opportunity and began cloaking malware disguised as DeepSeek. Various malware campaigns followed, which included Crypto-miners, fake installers, DeepSeek impersonator websites, and fake DeepSeek mobile apps.
At McAfee Labs, we work hard to keep you safe, but staying informed is always a smart move. When navigating trending news stories, it’s important to stay cautious and take necessary precautions. We continuously track emerging threats across multiple platforms—including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and ChromeOS—to ensure our customers remain protected. While we do our part, don’t forget to do yours: enable Scam Protection, Web Protection, and Antivirus in your preferred security product.
McAfee products offer advanced AI-powered protection across all tiers—Basic, Essential, Premium, Advanced, and Ultimate. Our AI-Suite includes features like AI-powered Antivirus, Text Scam Detection, Web Protection, VPN, and Identity Protection, providing comprehensive security.
Check out McAfee Scam Detector, which enhances our ability to combat a wide range of scams and is included in our products at no extra cost.
For more tips on avoiding scams and staying safe online, visit the McAfee Smart AI Hub at mcafee.ai. You can also explore the latest insights on the State of the Scamiverse on McAfee’s blog and stay up to date on scam prevention strategies.
Together, we can outsmart scammers and make the internet safer for everyone.
In the rest of this article, we use simple examples to delve into more technical details for those seeking more analysis details.
McAfee Labs uncovered a variety of DeepSeek-themed malware campaigns attempting to exploit its popularity and target tech savvy users. Multiple malware families were able to distribute their latest variants under the false pretense of being DeepSeek software.
Figure 2: Attack Vector
Users encounter some threats while searching for information about DeepSeek AI on the internet. They encountered websites offering DeepSeek installers for different platforms, such as Android, Windows and Mac. McAfee Labs found a number of such installers were trojanized or just repackaged applications. We identified multiple instances of Keyloggers, Crypto miners, Password Stealers, and Trojan Downloaders being distributed as DeepSeek installers.
Figure 3: DeepSeek Installers
In Figure 3, we encountered fake installers, which distribute Third-Party software, such as winManager (highlighted in red) and Audacity (highlighted in blue).
In the simplest abuse of the DeepSeek name, certain affiliates were able to spike their partner downloads and get a commission based on pay-per-install partner programs. Rogue affiliates use this tactic to generate revenue through forced installations of partner programs.
Additionally similar software installers were also observed utilizing the DeepSeek Icon to appear more believable or alternatively use click ads and modify browser settings (such as modify the search engine) with the goal of generating additional ad revenue.
Figure 4: winManager (left) and Audacity (right)
The Deepseek icon was also misused by multiple Android applications to deceive users into downloading unrelated apps, thereby increasing download counts and generating revenue.
Figure 5: Android files abusing DeepSeek’s Logo
We also encountered DeepSeek-Themed Fake-Captcha Pages. This isn’t new and has been a popular technique used as recently as 6 months ago by LummaStealer
Fake captcha – is a fake webpage, asking users to verify that they are human, but instead, tricks the user into downloading and executing malicious software. This malware can steal login credentials, browser information etc.
Figure6: Fake Captcha Page
In this instance, the website deepseekcaptcha[.]top pretends to offer a partnership program for content creators. They are utilizing the technique called ‘Brand Impersonation’, where they’re using DeepSeek’s Icons and color scheme to appear as the original website.
Figure 7: deepseekcaptcha[.]top
Once the user registers for the program, they’re redirected to the fake captcha page.
Figure 8: Fake Captcha Page hosted on the website
Here, as shown above, to authenticate, the user is asked to open the verification window by pressing the Windows + R key and then pressing CTRL + V to verify their identity.
The user would observe a screen as shown in figure 9.
Figure 9: Windows Run panel after copying the CMD
On clicking ‘OK’, malware will be installed that can steal browser and financial information from the system.
McAfee’s Web Advisor protects against such threats. In this instance, the fake captcha page was blocked and marked as suspicious before it could be accessed. Even if you aren’t a McAfee customer, check out browser plugin for free.
Figure 10: McAfee blocking malicious URL
In this section we talk about a *Cryptominer malware that was masquerading as DeepSeek. By blocking this initial payload, we prevent a chain of events (Fig 11.) on the computer that would have led to reduced performance on the device and potentially expose your device to further infection attempts.
Some examples names used by the initial loader are were:
Figure 11: CryptoMiner KillChain
Once installed, this malware communicates with its *C&C (Command and Control) to download and execute a *PowerShell script. Figure 12 (a) and (b) show the malware connecting it’s IP address to download chunks of a script file which is then stored to the AppData\Roaming folder as installer.ps1
Figure 12(a): Sample connects to C&C IP Address
Figure 12(b): Installer.ps1 stored in Roaming folder
An attempt is made to bypass system policies and launch the script
Figure 13: Base64 Encoded Malicious Code
Figure 14: PowerShell code for Process Injection.
Malware attempts to maintain persistence on the Victim’s computer.
Figure 15: Creating Run Key entry to maintain persistence
Figure 16: HTTP response that contains additional parameters
[{“address”:”494k9WqKJKFGDoD9MfnAcjEDcrHMmMNJTUun8rYFRYyPHyoHMJf5sesH79UoM8VfoGYevyzthG86r5BTGYZxmhENTzKajL3″,”idle_threads”:90,”idle_time”:1,”password”:”x”,”pool”:”pool.hashvault.pro:443″,”task”:”FALLEN|NOTASK”,”threads”:40}]
Figure 17: Notepad.exe being executed with additional parameters
Figure 18: Wallet status for the captured wallet address
The attacker purposely mines Monero Cryptocurrency, as it prioritizes anonymity, making it impossible to track the movements of funds. This makes it a popular coin by a number of crypto-miners
PowerShell is a cross-platform command-line shell and scripting language developed by Microsoft, primarily used for task automation and configuration management and streamlined administrative control across Windows, Linux, and macOS environments worldwide.
A cryptominer is software or hardware that uses computing power to validate cryptocurrency transactions, secure decentralized networks, and earn digital currency rewards, often straining system resources and raising energy consumption. When used in the context of malware, it is unauthorized software that covertly uses infected devices to mine cryptocurrency, draining resources, slowing performance, increasing energy costs, and often remaining difficult to detect or remove.
This is a term used to describe a technique where malware injects and overwrites legitimate processes in memory, thereby modifying their behavior to run malicious code and bypassing security measures. The target processes are typically trusted processes.
C&C (Command and Control) is a communication channel used by attackers to remotely issue commands, coordinate activities, and data from compromised systems or networks.
This term refers to the techniques that malware or an attacker uses to maintain long-term access to a compromised system, even after reboots, logouts, or security interventions. Persistence ensures that the malicious payload or backdoor remains active and ready to execute even if the system is restarted or the user tries to remove it.
In malware, a payload is the main malicious component delivered or executed once the infection occurs, enabling destructive activities such as data theft, system damage, resource hogging or unauthorized control and infiltration.
XMRig is an open-source cryptocurrency mining software primarily used for mining Monero. It was originally developed as a legitimate tool for miners to efficiently utilize system resources to mine Monero using CPU and GPU power. However, due to its open-source nature and effectiveness, XMRig has become a popular tool for cryptominers.
Monero (XMR) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that prioritizes anonymity, security, and decentralization. Launched in April 2014, Monero is designed to provide untraceable and unlinkable transactions, making it difficult for outside parties to monitor or track the movement of funds on its blockchain. It operates on a decentralized, peer-to-peer network but with enhanced privacy features.
The post Look Before You Leap: Imposter DeepSeek Software Seek Gullible Users appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In a digital landscape hungry for the next big thing in Artificial Intelligence, a new contender called DeepSeek recently burst onto the scene and has quickly gained traction for its advanced language models.
Positioned as a low-cost alternative to industry giants like OpenAI and Meta, DeepSeek has drawn attention for its rapid growth, affordability, and potential to reshape the AI landscape.
Unfortunately, a recent investigation by McAfee Labs found that the same hype is now fueling a barrage of malware attacks disguised as DeepSeek software and updates.
Here’s a breakdown of those research findings:
It starts with a user searching online to find DeepSeek to use for themselves. Innocent enough. The problem comes from malicious results that promise access to DeepSeek, but actually steal data and infect computers.
McAfee Labs’ blog post pulls back the curtain on three main deception methods:
1. Fake “DeepSeek” Installers
2. Unrelated Third-Party Software Installs
3. Fake Captcha Pages
McAfee’s experts underscore the importance of careful online habits and shares best practices to keep threats at bay:
FreshRSS 
Windows + R and paste something you can’t see in full, don’t do it.
McAfee Labs’ findings reveal just how adaptable—and opportunistic—cybercriminals can be when fresh digital gold rushes emerge. By following basic security practices and staying skeptical about anything that seems too good to be true, you can explore new AI frontiers without handing over the keys to your device.
When in doubt, stop, do your due diligence, and only download from verified sources. Your curiosity about the latest tech trends shouldn’t come at the cost of your personal data or system security.
The post Bogus ‘DeepSeek’ AI Installers Are Infecting Devices with Malware, Research Finds appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Tax season is already stressful for many Americans, and to make matters worse, it’s also a golden opportunity for scammers.
According to a new 2025 tax season survey conducted by McAfee, nearly half (48%) of people say they, or someone they know, has received a message via email, social media, phone call, or text message falsely claiming to be from the IRS or an official state tax authority.
And when these deceptive messages and other manipulative AI practices work, research reveals it costs — a lot.
Gen Z adults (18-24) surveyed by McAfee reported experiencing the most scams, with nearly 40% saying they or someone they know has been scammed.
While young adults face high rates of attempted fraud, older adults (65-74) are still at greater risk of large financial losses. Among men in that age group who lost money in such a scam, 40% reported losing between $751 and $1,000, and half of the women lost between $2,501 and $5,000.
Meanwhile, the steepest losses overall were reported by those aged 45-54, with 10% saying they lost more than $10,000.
Criminals have long relied on phishing emails and fraudulent calls to obtain personal information—especially during tax season. Today, AI is raising the stakes.
Deepfake audio lets scammers sound exactly like IRS agents, and AI-generated phishing emails perfectly replicate official communications from reputable tax preparation services.
In fact, more than half (55%) of Americans say they’ve noticed scam attempts becoming more realistic than in previous years, and 87% worry AI is making them even harder to detect.
Here’s how a typical tax scam might play out: It often starts with an urgent text or email claiming your refund was rejected—or that you owe back taxes and must pay immediately. These messages can look and sound incredibly convincing, prompting recipients to click a malicious link or call a fake helpline.
Once scammers have your attention, they’ll ask for personal or financial information—like your Social Security number, bank details, or a credit card—to “fix” the supposed problem. Of course, it’s all a ploy to steal your identity or your cash.
McAfee highlights several tactics that have emerged in these AI-driven scams:
Tax scams show no signs of slowing down in 2025. Whether you’re part of Gen Z, a senior, or somewhere in between, it pays to stay vigilant.
By recognizing the signs of a scam, safeguarding your personal information, and taking proactive steps, you can help ensure your refund ends up where it belongs: in your pocket.
The post Financial Losses from Tax Scams Top $1,000 on Average—and Gen Z is a Growing Target appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Scams are big business for cybercriminals, and they’re getting more sophisticated than ever. According to McAfee’s State of the Scamiverse 2025 report, the average person encounters 12 scams per day, while Americans see over 14 scam attempts daily, including three deepfake videos.
Fraudsters are leveraging AI-powered tools to create hyper-realistic deepfakes for as little as $5 and 10 minutes, making it harder than ever to distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake. The financial impact is staggering—87% of scam victims lose money, with one-third losing over $500, and nearly one in ten losing more than $5,000.
As a parent, one of my greatest concerns is ensuring my family doesn’t fall victim to these evolving scams.
So, here are five key ways to keep your loved ones safe in today’s Scamiverse.
Teaching kids (and adults) to be skeptical of what they see online is a crucial first step in scam prevention. Given the rise of deepfakes and AI-generated frauds, it’s essential to develop a questioning mindset:
With detected deepfakes surging tenfold globally and a 1,740% increase in North America alone, it’s more important than ever to show real-world examples of scams to kids and teens so they can recognize the signs.
Good digital habits can prevent many scams before they happen. Yet, 35% of scam victims say falling for a scam caused them moderate to significant distress, highlighting the importance of strong cyber hygiene:
Cybercriminals use the mosaic effect—piecing together publicly available information—to commit identity theft and financial fraud. Here’s how to lock down your digital footprint:
Phishing scams remain one of the most successful fraud tactics, often tricking victims into clicking on malicious links. According to McAfee, the most commonly reported scam types include:
To stay safe:
Staying informed is one of the best defenses against scams. With social media users sharing over 500,000 deepfakes in 2023, awareness is key. Here’s how to stay ahead:
Whether it’s deepfake impersonation scams, fraudulent investment schemes, or phishing texts, scammers are evolving rapidly. But with awareness, skepticism, and strong digital habits, you can help ensure your family stays protected from the ever-growing Scamiverse.
For more tips and security solutions, check out McAfee’s advanced protection tools to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters.
The post Protect Your Family From Scams With These 5 Key Online Safety Tips appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The internet is brimming with content designed to entertain, inform—and sometimes deceive. The latest tool in a cybercriminal’s arsenal? Deepfakes. From fabricated celebrity endorsements to fraudulent job interviews, AI-generated deepfake scams are growing at an alarming rate. As deepfake technology becomes more advanced, it’s harder than ever to discern real from fake—until it’s too late.
According to McAfee’s latest “State of the Scamiverse” report, deepfake scams have become an everyday reality. The average American now encounters 2.6 deepfake videos daily, with younger adults (18-24) seeing even more – about 3.5 per day. And for less than the cost of a latte and in under 10 minutes, scammers today can create shockingly convincing deepfake videos of anyone: your mom, your boss, or even your child.
At McAfee, we’re committed to helping users navigate this evolving threat landscape with cutting-edge protection tools. Understanding how deepfake scams work and how to safeguard yourself is the first step in staying ahead of cybercriminals.
Deepfake scams exploit the power of AI to create hyper-realistic audio, video, and images that can impersonate anyone—from politicians to CEOs, from family members to Hollywood stars. These fake videos and voices have been used to:
Our research shows that people encounter nearly three deepfakes a day online and that the number is growing, making the urgency to combat these scams greater than ever.
Figure 1: AN AI-Generated image of the Pope went viral online.
Deepfake scams typically follow a predictable pattern:
While deepfake technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, there are still ways to identify AI-generated deception:
To stay one step ahead of cybercriminals, consider these safety measures:
Deepfake scams are not just a futuristic concern—they are a real and present danger. Cybercriminals will continue refining their tactics, but with the right awareness and security tools, you can outsmart them.
McAfee remains at the forefront of AI-driven security solutions, ensuring you have the protection you need in an increasingly deceptive digital world.
Stay one step ahead of deepfake threats. Download McAfee+ today and take control of your online security.
The post Data Shows You’ll Encounter A Deepfake Today—Here’s How To Recognize It appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Look both ways for a new form of scam that’s on the rise, especially if you live in Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Orlando — fake toll road scams. They’re the top five cities getting targeted by scammers.
We’ve uncovered plenty of these scams, and our research team at McAfee Labs has revealed a major uptick in them over the past few weeks. Fake toll road scams have nearly quadrupled at the end of February compared to where they were in January.
Figure 1. A chart showing the increasing frequency and volume of toll road scam messages
The scams play out like this:
Ping. You get a text notification. It says you have an unpaid tab for tolls and that you need to pay right away. And like many scams, it contains a link where you can pay up. Of course, that takes you to a phishing site that asks for your payment info (and sometimes your driver’s license number or even your Social Security number), which can lead to identity fraud and possibly identity theft.
Here’s one example that our Labs team tracked down. Pay close attention to the link. It follows the form of a classic scammer trick by altering the address of a known company so that it looks legit.
Figure 2. A screenshot showing an example of a Toll Roads scam text
The scam messages come in multiple varieties, however, so it’s important to stay vigilant of both your text and email inboxes. McAfee Labs found, for example, that some text messages and emails included PDFs while others included links using popular URL shortener services such as bit.ly, shorturl.at, qrco.de, and short.gy. The use of URL shorteners can also falsely create a sense of security when people recognize the popular format and don’t see typos or suspicious parts of the full URL.
Figure 3. A screenshot of a toll road scam text that urges recipients to open a PDF
Additionally, these scammers put in a lot of effort to create legitimate-looking web pages and notices. Note how the following example does its best to look like branded digital letterhead. And, as usual, it uses urgent language about fines and legal action to help make sure you “Pay Now.”
Figure 4. An example of a PDF included in a scam toll road text message
They work. Scammers target their victims by matching them with the toll payment service in their city or state, which makes the scam look extra official. For example, a scammer would use an “E-ZPass” email to target someone in Orlando, our #5 city for toll road scams, which is one of the 19 states that E-ZPass serves. In southern California, victims get hit with phony texts from scammers posing as “The Toll Roads,” which is a payment service in that region.
The apparent legitimacy combined with the emotional sense of urgency creates the perfect snare for scammers.
Now, about those URLs to phishing sites. We mentioned that scammers take the URLs of known toll payment services and add some extra characters to them. In other cases, they’ve latched on to the root term “paytoll” as well. Our research team dug up several examples of fake toll sites, including:
Of course, don’t follow any of those links. And something else about those links — you can see scammers dot-top, dot-vip, and dot-xin. These domains are cheap, available, and easy to purchase, which makes them attractive to scammers.
According to McAfee Labs research, the following U.S. cities are experiencing the most of these scam texts:
Figure 5. The top cities where toll road scams are most prevalent
The scam has gotten so out of hand that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning about it. They offer up the following advice:
We’ll add to that too, with:
The following images show additional phishing pages and links McAfee found in relation to different toll road scams.
The post Fake Toll Road Scam Texts are Everywhere. These Cities are The Most Targeted. appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored By Sakshi Jaiswal
McAfee Labs recently observed a surge in phishing campaigns that use fake viral video links to trick users into downloading malware. The attack relies on social engineering, redirecting victims through multiple malicious websites before delivering the payload. Users are enticed with promises of exclusive content, ultimately leading them to fraudulent pages and deceptive download links.
Figure 1: Geo Heatmap showing McAfee customer encounters over the past 3 weeks.
1. Upon executing the PDF file, the displayed page appears to be part of a phishing scam leveraging clickbait about a “viral video” to lure users into clicking suspicious links. The document contains blue hyperlinked text labeled as “Watch ➤ Click Here To Link (Full Viral Video Link)” and a deceptive video player graphic, giving the illusion of a playable video.
Figure 2: PDF Image
2. The user clicks on “Watch ➤ Click Here To Link (Full Viral Video Link)“, which redirects them to a webpage (gitb.org) displaying fake “viral video leaked” content, excessive ads, and fake notifications to lure users. It promotes adult content, gambling, and misleading download buttons, which are common indicators of phishing or malware traps.
Figure 3: Redirected Webpage
3. This further redirects to malicious URL “hxxps[:]//purecopperapp.monster/indexind.php?flow_id=107&aff_click_id=D-21356743-1737975550-34G123G137G124-AITLS2195&keyword=Yourfile&ip=115.118.240.109&sub=22697121&source=157764”
Figure 4: Redirected Webpage2
4. And then redirected to below URL: “hxxps[:]//savetitaniumapp.monster/?t=d6ebff4d554677320244f60589926b97” which presents a password-protected download link hosted on Mega.nz, requiring the user to manually copy and paste the URL.
Figure 5: Redirected Webpage with download link
5. Upon checking the URL, it displays a loading screen while preparing the malicious file for download and then shows a downloadable file named 91.78.127.175.zip with a size of 26.7 MB.
Figure 6: Screenshot of a ZIP file download from MEGA
6. Download is completed and stored in downloads folder
Figure 7: Zip file downloaded
7. A ZIP archive (91.78.127.175.zip, 26.7 MB) file contains a password protected .7z file with .png file containing the password.
Figure 8: Files inside ZIP archive
8. The extracted .7z archive contains setup.msi, which is the actual malware payload.
Figure 9: setup.msi file
Upon execution of setup.msi, the malware:
1. Displays a CAPTCHA image to deceive users. upon clicking “OK,” it begins dropping files in the %Roaming% directory.
Figure 10: Screenshot of CAPTCHA image
2. Drops files into the %Roaming% directory.
Figure 11: Dropped multiple files in %Roaming%
Figure 12: Process Tree
McAfee intercepts and blocks this infection chain at multiple stages.
URL blocking of the fake video pages.
Figure 13: McAfee Blocking URL
Figure 14: McAfee PDF file Detection
This campaign highlights how cybercriminals exploit social engineering tactics and clickbait content to distribute malware. Users should remain cautious when encountering suspicious video links. To stay protected against phishing attacks and malware infections, McAfee recommends:
The post The Dark Side of Clickbait: How Fake Video Links Deliver Malware appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Social media connects us to friends, trends, and news in real time—but it also opens the door to scammers looking to exploit trust and curiosity. From fake giveaways to impersonation scams, fraudsters use sophisticated tactics to trick users into handing over personal information, money, or access to their accounts.
Even the most internet-savvy users can fall victim to these deceptive schemes. That’s why it’s crucial to recognize the red flags before it’s too late. Whether it’s a DM from a “friend” in trouble, a deal that seems too good to be true, or a sudden request to verify your account, scammers prey on urgency and emotion to pull you in.
Here’s a look at some of the most common social media scams—and how you can stay one step ahead to protect yourself and your accounts.
Fraudsters use various tactics to lure unsuspecting users into their schemes, including:
Recognizing these red flags can help you stay safe:
Follow these precautions to reduce your risk of falling victim:
If you suspect you’ve fallen victim to a social media scam, take immediate action:
Social media scams are becoming more sophisticated, but you can protect yourself by staying informed and cautious.
Always verify messages, be skeptical of too-good-to-be-true offers, and use strong security measures to safeguard your accounts.
By recognizing these scams early, you can avoid financial loss and keep your personal information safe online.
McAfee helps protect you from online threats with advanced security tools, including identity monitoring, safe browsing features, and real-time malware protection. Stay one step ahead of scammers with trusted cybersecurity solutions.
The post The 9 Most Common Social Media Scams—and How to Spot Them Before It’s Too Late appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Typos. Too-good-to-be-true offers. Urgent warnings.
Scammers are getting smarter—and more convincing. New research from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reveals that Americans lost a staggering $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a 25% increase from the previous year. The median reported loss was $497, with imposter scams alone accounting for nearly $3 billion in losses.
Fraud isn’t just increasing—it’s hitting certain areas harder than others. Florida, Georgia, and Delaware ranked as the top three states with the highest per-capita fraud reports, while California led in total reports with over 500,000 cases.
And where are these scams happening? Scammers are reaching victims through phone calls, text messages, and social media, with social media emerging as one of the most lucrative platforms for fraud—70% of fraud reports linked to social media resulted in financial losses.
With scammers using increasingly sophisticated tactics, knowing how to spot red flags in emails and links is more critical than ever.
Here’s how to protect yourself from the latest phishing threats.
Simple Steps to Check a Link Before Clicking
How to Protect Yourself from Phishing Attacks
Preventative Measures
What to Do if You Clicked a Suspicious Link
Phishing attacks are becoming more deceptive, but staying informed and cautious can protect you. Always verify links and emails before clicking, and use trusted cybersecurity tools like McAfee+ to keep your accounts and data safe.
Stay vigilant—don’t let scammers catch you off guard!
The post Avoid Being Scammed: How to Identify Fake Emails and Suspicious Links appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Cryptocurrency offers exciting opportunities—but it’s also a favorite playground for scammers.
With the rapid rise of deepfake technology and deceptive AI-driven schemes, even seasoned investors can fall victim to fraud. According to McAfee’s State of the Scamiverse report, deepfake scams are on the rise, with the average American now encountering 2.6 deepfake videos daily. And younger adults (18-24) see even more – about 3.5 per day.
From fake investment opportunities to phishing attempts, bad actors are more sophisticated than ever.
The recent wave of Trump-themed meme coins—more than 700 copycats attempting to mimic the real thing—highlights just how rampant crypto scams have become. If even the president’s cryptocurrency isn’t safe from impersonators, how can everyday investors protect themselves?
By knowing the red flags, you can safeguard your money and personal data from crypto scammers.
Scammers often lure victims with guaranteed returns or impossibly high profits. If an investment promises “risk-free” earnings or sounds like a financial miracle, run the other way—legitimate investments always carry some level of risk.
Example: A Ponzi scheme disguised as a crypto investment fund may claim to offer “10% daily profits” or “instant payouts.” In reality, they use new investors’ money to pay early participants—until the scam collapses.
Fraudsters frequently impersonate public figures—from Elon Musk to Donald Trump—to promote fake coins or crypto investments. The explosion of Trump-themed meme coins shows how easily scammers exploit famous names. Even if a project appears linked to a well-known figure, verify through official channels.
Example: A deepfake video featuring a celebrity “endorsing” a new crypto token. McAfee’s research found that nearly 3 deepfake videos per day are encountered by the average American, many of them tied to scams.
Scammers often set up fraudulent crypto exchanges or wallet apps that look legitimate but are designed to steal your money. They might advertise low fees, special bonuses, or exclusive access to new coins.
How to Protect Yourself:
Always use well-established exchanges with a proven track record.
Look for HTTPS encryption and verify the URL carefully.
Research if the platform is licensed and regulated.
Scammers thrive on urgency. They’ll push you to act immediately before you have time to think critically. Whether it’s a limited-time pre-sale or a “secret investment opportunity,” don’t let fear of missing out (FOMO) cloud your judgment.
Example: “Only 10 spots left! Invest now before prices skyrocket!”—Classic scam tactics designed to trigger impulsive decisions.
No legitimate crypto project will ever ask for:
Example: A fake customer support email pretending to be from Coinbase, asking you to confirm your wallet password—this is a phishing attempt!
Do Your Research: Always Google the project’s name + “scam” before investing.
Check Regulatory Status: See if the platform is licensed (DFPI, SEC, or other regulators).
Verify Official Websites & Socials: Scammers create lookalike websites with small typos—double-check URLs!
Use Cold Storage: Store your assets in a hardware wallet to protect against hacks.
Use tools like McAfee+: To monitor for potential scams and get warnings for potential deepfakes and other scam red flags.
Crypto offers incredible potential—but with great opportunity comes risk. Scammers are always evolving, using deepfake videos, phishing, and fraudulent investment schemes to trick even the savviest investors. By staying informed and following basic security practices, you can avoid getting caught in the next big crypto scam.
The post How to Spot a Crypto Scam: The Top Red Flags to Watch For appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It started with a DM.
For five months, 25-year-old computer programmer Maggie K. exchanged daily messages with the man she met on Instagram, convinced she had found something real.
When it was finally time to meet in person, he never showed. Instead, he claimed he missed his flight and needed money to rebook. Desperate to finally see him, she sent the cash.
Then, silence. His accounts vanished. He hadn’t just ghosted her—he had never existed at all.
“I ignored my gut feeling… I sent him $1,200. Then he disappeared,” Maggie told McAfee, hoping that her story would educate others. “When I reported the scam, the police told me his images were AI-generated. He wasn’t even a real person. That was the scariest part – I had trusted someone who never even existed.”
These scams work because they prey on trust and emotions. And they aren’t just targeting the naïve; anyone, even tech professionals as Maggie’s case shows, can be fooled.
McAfee’s latest research reveals more than half (52%) of people have been scammed out of money or pressured to send money or gifts by someone they met online.
And romance scams aren’t just happening in dating apps anymore. Social media, messaging platforms and AI chatbots are fuelling an explosion of online romance fraud.
McAfee’s findings highlight a staggering rise in:
With 62% of people saying they’ve used dating apps, social media, or messaging platforms to connect with potential partners, scammers have a bigger pool of victims than ever before.
Younger users are the most active online daters, with 31% of 18-24-year-olds currently using online dating platforms. Tinder is the most popular dating app overall (46%), with its highest engagement among 18-24-year-olds (73%). Just over 40% of respondents said they use Instagram, 29% use Snapchat and 25% use TikTok to meet potential partners. But these platforms also present new risks, as fake apps designed to steal personal information lurk in app stores.
McAfee researchers found nearly 11,000 attempts to download fraudulent dating apps in recent months. The most impersonated?
Downloading a fake app could expose your login credentials, financial information or even install malware onto your device.
And once money is lost, its rarely recovered, as scammers use cryptocurrency, untraceable gift cards and offshore accounts to move stolen funds.
McAfee researchers urge anyone looking for love online to stay vigilant by following these critical safety measures:
1) Watch for “love bombing.” Scammers overwhelm victims with affection early on to gain trust.
2) Verify their identity. Use reverse image searches and insist on live video calls which AI-generated scammers avoid.
3) Never send money. No real partner will pressure you for financial help—especially when you’ve never met.
4) Be wary of celebrity DMs. If a famous figure suddenly messages you, it’s likely a scam.
5) Avoid suspicious links. McAfee blocked over 321,000 fraudulent dating sites—avoid clicking on unknown links or apps.
6) Use online protection tools. Tools like McAfee+ can detect and block suspicious messages, phishing attempts, and AI-generated fraud in real time. McAfee+ offers maximum identity, privacy, and device protection to detect and prevent fraudulent activity before it causes harm.
The post AI chatbots are becoming romance scammers—and 1 in 3 people admit they could fall for one appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Cybercriminals will always try to cash in on a good thing, and football is no exception. Online scammers are ramping up for the big game with all types of schemes designed to rip you off and steal your personal info—but you have several ways you can beat them at their game.
Like shopping holidays, tax season, and even back-to-school time, scammers take advantage of annual events that get people searching for deals and information online. You can include big games and tournaments in that list too.
Specific to this big game, you can count on several types of scams to rear their heads this time of year—ticket scams, merchandise scams, betting scams, and phony sweepstakes as well. They’re all in the mix, and they’re all avoidable. Here, we’ll break them down.
As of two weeks out, tickets for the big game on the official ticketing website were going for $6,000 or so, and that was for the so-called “cheap seats.” Premium seats in the lower bowl 50-yard line, sold by verified resellers, were listed at $20,000 a pop or higher.
While the game tickets are now 100% mobile, that hasn’t prevented scammers from trying to pass off phony tickets as the real deal. They’ll hawk those counterfeits in plenty of places online, sometimes in sites like your friendly neighborhood Craigslist.
So if you’re in the market for tickets, there are certainly a few things to look out for:
If you plan on enjoying the game closer to home, you may be in the market for some merch—a hat, a jersey, a tee, or maybe some new mugs for entertaining when you host the game at your place. With all the hype around the game, out will come scammers who set up bogus online stores. They’ll advertise items for sale but won’t deliver—leaving you a few dollars lighter and the scammers with your payment information, which they can use on their own for identity fraud.
You can shop safely with a few straightforward steps:
This is a great one to start with. Directly typing in the correct address for reputable online stores and retailers is a prime way to avoid scammers online. In the case of retailers that you don’t know much about, the U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB) asks shoppers to do their research and make sure that retailer has a good reputation. The BBB makes that easier with a listing of retailers you can search simply by typing in their name.
If you feel like doing extra sleuthing, look up the address of the website and see when it was launched. A visit to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at ICANN.org gives you the option to search a web address and see when it was launched, along with other information about who registered it. While a recently launched site is not an indicator of a scam site alone, sites with limited track records may give you pause if you want to shop there—particularly if there’s a chance it was just propped up by a scammer.
Look for the lock icon in your browser when you shop.
Secure websites begin their address with “https,” not just “http.” That extra “s” in stands for “secure,” which means that it uses a secure protocol for transmitting sensitive info like passwords, credit card numbers, and the like over the internet. It often appears as a little padlock icon in the address bar of your browser, so double-check for that. If you don’t see that it’s secure, it’s best to avoid making purchases on that website.
Credit cards are a good way to go. One reason why is the Fair Credit Billing Act, which offers protection against fraudulent charges on credit cards by giving you the right to dispute charges over $50 for goods and services that were never delivered or otherwise billed incorrectly. Your credit card companies may have their own policies that improve upon the Fair Credit Billing Act as well. Debit cards don’t get the same protection under the Act.
Comprehensive online protection software will defend against the latest virus, malware, spyware, and ransomware attacks plus further protect your privacy and identity. In addition to this, it can also provide strong password protection by generating and automatically storing complex passwords to keep your credentials safer from hackers and crooks who may try to force their way into your accounts. And, specific to the scams floating around this time of year, online protection can help prevent you from clicking links to known or suspected malicious sites.
It’s hard to watch sports these days without odds and stat lines popping up onto the screen, along with a fair share of ads that promote online betting. If you’re thinking about making things interesting with some betting, keep a few things in mind:
As it is every year, you’ll see kinds of sweepstakes and giveaways leading up to the game, plenty of them legitimate. Yet as they do, scammers will try and blend in by rolling out their own bogus promotions. Their aim: to part you from your cash or even your personal information.
A quick way to sniff out these scams is to take a close look at the promotion. For example, if it asks you to provide your bank information to send you your prize money, count on it being a scam. Likewise, if the promotion asks you to pay to claim a prize in some form or other, it’s also likely someone’s trying to scam you.
In all, steer clear of promotions that ask something for something in return, particularly if it’s your money or personal information.
As it is of late, all kinds of scams will try to glom onto the big game this year. And some of the best advice for avoiding them is not to give in to the hype. Scammers prey on scarcity, a sense of urgency, and keyed-up emotions in general. Their hope is that these things may make you less critical and more likely to overlook things that would otherwise seem sketchy or too good to be true. Staying focused as you shop, place a wager, or otherwise look to round out your enjoyment of the big game is some of your absolute best defense against scammers right now, and any time.
The post Super Scams – Beat the Online Scammers Who Want to Sack Your Big Game appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Beyoncé has officially announced her Cowboy Carter world tour, and the excitement is through the roof! With her last tour selling out in record time, fans know they need to act fast to secure their tickets. Unfortunately, that urgency is exactly what scammers prey on.
In 2022 alone, Americans lost nearly $8.8 billion to fraud, and ticket scams are one of the most common ways scammers cash in on eager fans. But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Before you rush to buy tickets to Beyoncé’s latest tour, here’s how to spot and avoid ticket scams so you don’t get left outside the stadium with nothing but regret.
Ticket scams come in different forms, but the most common ones include:
Scammers know how to create a sense of urgency, often advertising tickets to sold-out events at too-good-to-be-true prices. If you’re desperate to see Beyoncé, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush—but staying cautious can save you from getting scammed.
The best way to avoid being scammed is to buy only from reputable sources like official ticketing platforms (Ticketmaster, Live Nation, AXS) or directly from the event’s website. However, if you’re looking elsewhere, be on the lookout for these red flags:
When an event sells out, scammers flood social media with offers. Platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, and Craigslist are filled with fake ticket sellers. If you didn’t get tickets during the official sale, be cautious about where you’re looking.
Pro Tip: Follow Beyoncé’s official social media pages and event organizers for updates. Sometimes, extra dates or official resale opportunities become available.
Scammers often advertise tickets below face value to lure in victims. While real fans sometimes sell their tickets at a discount, it’s a huge red flag if the price is way lower than expected.
Pro Tip: If you’re buying from an individual, check their profile carefully. Look for signs of a fake account, such as recently created pages or multiple listings in different cities.
Some scammers go the extra mile, creating entire websites that mimic real ticket platforms. These fake sites not only sell counterfeit tickets but may also steal your credit card information.
Pro Tip: Always type in the official ticketing site’s URL manually or search for it on Google. Avoid clicking links from unknown sources, and double-check that the site uses “HTTPS” and has no misspellings in the URL.
Even if you get a real ticket, that doesn’t mean it’s yours alone. Some scammers sell the same ticket to multiple people, leading to chaos when multiple buyers show up at the event.
Pro Tip: Only buy from platforms that offer verified resale tickets with guarantees, like StubHub, SeatGeek, or VividSeats.
Some scammers sell general admission tickets as if they were premium seats. You may think you’re getting front-row access, only to find out you overpaid for a standing-room ticket.
Pro Tip: Always confirm the seat location with the seller. Many venues have seating charts available online, so check before purchasing.
Scammers hack into Ticketmaster accounts and transfer tickets to themselves, effectively locking the rightful owner out of their seats. Victims often receive a flood of emails, including notifications of ticket transfers they never authorized. By the time they realize what’s happened, their tickets are gone, likely resold by the scammer.
Pro Tip: To prevent this, ensure your Ticketmaster account is secure by using a strong password, enabling two-factor authentication, and being wary of suspicious login attempts or phishing emails.
To make sure you don’t fall victim to a ticket scam, follow these golden rules:
Buy from official sources – Beyoncé’s official website, Ticketmaster, and AXS are your safest bets.
Use a credit card – If something goes wrong, you can dispute the charge.
Be wary of social media sellers – If you’re buying from a stranger, research their profile and history first.
Check the URL – Make sure you’re on the real ticketing website before purchasing.
Avoid high-pressure sales tactics – Scammers want you to act fast—don’t fall for it!
Beyond ticket scams, cybercriminals also use major events like Beyoncé’s tour to spread malware and phishing attacks. McAfee’s comprehensive online protection can help keep your devices and personal information safe by blocking malicious websites, preventing identity theft, and alerting you to potential fraud.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour is one of the most anticipated events of the year, and everyone wants to be part of the experience. But scammers know this too, and they’re out in full force. By staying smart, sticking to verified ticket sources, and being wary of deals that seem too good to be true, you can avoid scams and secure your spot at one of the biggest concerts of 2025.
Stay safe, Beyhive—and get ready to enjoy the show!
The post Buying Tickets for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour? Don’t Let Scammers Ruin Your Experience appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The rise of AI-driven cyber threats has introduced a new level of sophistication to phishing scams, particularly those targeting Gmail users.
Criminals are using artificial intelligence to create eerily realistic impersonations of Google support representatives, Forbes recently reported. These scams don’t just rely on misleading emails; they also include convincing phone calls that appear to come from legitimate sources.
If you receive a call claiming to be from Google support, just hang up—this could be an AI-driven scam designed to trick you into handing over your Gmail credentials.
Here’s everything you need to know about the scam and how to protect yourself:
Hackers have devised a multi-step approach to trick users into handing over their Gmail credentials. Here’s how the scam unfolds:
The attack often begins with a phone call from what appears to be an official Google support number. The caller, using AI-generated voice technology, convincingly mimics a real Google representative. Their tone is professional, and the caller ID may even display “Google Support,” making it difficult to immediately recognize the scam.
Once engaged, the scammer informs the victim that suspicious activity has been detected on their Gmail account. They may claim that an unauthorized login attempt has occurred, or that their account is at risk of being locked. The goal is to create a sense of urgency, pressuring the victim to act quickly without thinking critically.
To appear credible, the scammer sends an email that looks almost identical to a real Google security notification. The email may include official-looking branding and a request to verify the user’s identity by entering a code. The email is designed to look so authentic that even tech-savvy individuals can be fooled.
If the victim enters the verification code, they inadvertently grant the attacker full access to their Gmail account. Since the scammer now controls the two-factor authentication process, they can lock the real user out, change passwords, and exploit the account for further attacks, including identity theft, financial fraud, or spreading phishing emails to others.
This scam is particularly dangerous because it combines multiple layers of deception, making it difficult to spot. Unlike standard phishing emails that may contain poor grammar or suspicious links, AI-enhanced scams:
To protect yourself from AI-powered scams, follow these essential security measures:
1. Be Skeptical of Unsolicited Calls from “Google”
Google does not randomly call users about security issues. If you receive such a call, hang up immediately and report the incident through Google’s official support channels.
2. Verify Security Alerts Directly in Your Account
If you receive a message stating that your account has been compromised, do not click any links or follow instructions from the email. Instead, go directly to your Google account’s security settings and review recent activity.
3. Never Share Verification Codes
Google will never ask you to provide a security code over the phone. If someone requests this information, it is a scam.
4. Enable Strong Authentication Methods
5. Regularly Monitor Your Account Activity
Check the “Security” section of your Google account to review login activity. If you see any unrecognized sign-ins, take immediate action by changing your password and logging out of all devices.
6. Use a Password Manager
A password manager helps create and store strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts. This ensures that even if one password is compromised, other accounts remain secure.
If you believe your account has been compromised, take these steps immediately:
As AI technology advances, cybercriminals will continue to find new ways to exploit users. By staying informed and implementing strong security practices, you can reduce the risk of falling victim to these sophisticated scams.
At McAfee, we are dedicated to helping you protect your digital identity. Stay proactive, stay secure, and always verify before you trust.
For more cybersecurity insights and protection tools, check out McAfee+.
The post How to Make Sure Your Gmail Account is Protected in Light of Recent AI Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Video games are a favorite pastime for millions of kids and teenagers worldwide, offering exciting challenges, epic battles, and opportunities to connect with friends online. But what happens when the search for an edge in these games—like cheats or special hacks—leads to something far more dangerous?
McAfee Labs has uncovered a growing threat aimed at gamers, especially kids, who unknowingly download malware disguised as game hacks, software cracks, and cryptocurrency tools.
Here’s what you need to know about this sneaky scam and how to stay safe:
Popular games like Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty are among those targeted by these scams. Gamers searching for cheats to gain an advantage—like seeing through walls, speeding up characters, or unlocking premium items—are being lured to malicious links. These links often appear on GitHub, a platform where developers share and collaborate on code, or in YouTube videos claiming to offer step-by-step instructions.
GitHub is typically trusted by programmers and tech enthusiasts, but cybercriminals exploit this trust by uploading malware that masquerades as game hacks. By naming their repositories after popular games or tools, scammers trick users into downloading malware instead of the promised cheat software.
The process starts when someone searches online for free cheats or cracked software—like tools to unlock premium features of Spotify or Adobe—and stumbles upon a GitHub repository or a YouTube video. These repositories often look convincing, with professional descriptions, screenshots, and even licenses designed to appear legitimate.
Figure 1: Attack Vector
Once users follow the instructions, they’re often asked to disable their antivirus software or Windows Defender. The reasoning provided is that antivirus programs will mistakenly identify the hack or crack as dangerous. In reality, this step clears the way for malware to infect their device.
What Happens After the Malware is Downloaded?
Instead of receiving a functional cheat, victims unknowingly install a dangerous program known as Lumma Stealer or similar malware variants. This software quietly:
Each week, new repositories and malware variants appear as older ones are detected and removed. This cycle makes it difficult for platforms like GitHub to completely eliminate the threat.
Kids and teens are prime targets because they often lack experience in identifying online scams. The promise of features like “Aimbots” (to improve shooting accuracy) or “Anti-Ban” systems (to avoid getting caught by game administrators) makes these fake downloads even more tempting. Scammers exploit this curiosity and eagerness, making it easier to trick young gamers into infecting their devices.
Figure 2: YouTube Video containing malicious URL in description.
McAfee Labs offers these tips to avoid falling victim to these scams:
The takeaway? Scammers will go to great lengths to exploit the interests and habits of gamers. And unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen such malware attacks targeting gamers. By educating yourself and your family about these threats, you can play smarter and stay safer online. Always remember: no cheat or crack is worth compromising your security.
Read the full report from McAfee Labs outlining our research and findings on this malware risk. Learn more about how you can protect yourself with McAfee+.
The post Scam Alert: Fake Minecraft, Roblox Hacks on YouTube Hide Malware, Target Kids appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The artificial intelligence arms race has a new disruptor—DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that has quickly gained traction for its advanced language models.
Positioned as a low-cost alternative to industry giants like OpenAI and Meta, DeepSeek has drawn attention for its rapid growth, affordability, and potential to reshape the AI landscape.
But as the buzz around its capabilities grows, so do concerns about data privacy, cybersecurity, and the implications of feeding personal information into AI tools with uncertain oversight.
DeepSeek’s AI models, including its latest version, DeepSeek-V3, claim to rival the most sophisticated AI systems developed in the U.S.—but at a fraction of the cost.
According to reports, training its latest model required just $6 million in computing power, compared to the billions spent by its American counterparts. This affordability has allowed DeepSeek to climb the ranks, with its AI assistant even surpassing ChatGPT as the top free app on Apple’s U.S. App Store.
What makes DeepSeek’s rise even more surprising is how abruptly it entered the AI race. The company originally launched as a hedge fund before pivoting to artificial intelligence—an unusual shift that has fueled speculation about how it managed to develop such advanced models so quickly. Unlike other AI startups that spent years in research and development, DeepSeek seemed to emerge overnight with capabilities on par with OpenAI and Meta.
However, DeepSeek’s meteoric rise has sparked skepticism. Some analysts and AI experts question whether its success is truly due to breakthrough efficiency or if it has leveraged external resources—potentially including restricted U.S. AI technology. OpenAI has even accused DeepSeek of improperly using its proprietary tech, a claim that, if proven, could have major legal and ethical ramifications.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding DeepSeek isn’t just how it handles user data—it’s that it reportedly failed to secure it altogether.
According to The Register, security researchers at Wiz discovered that DeepSeek left a database completely exposed, with no password protection, allowing public access to millions of chat logs, API keys, backend data, and operational details.
This means that conversations with DeepSeek’s chatbot, including potentially sensitive information, were openly available to anyone on the internet. Worse still, the exposure reportedly could have allowed attackers to escalate privileges and gain deeper access into DeepSeek’s infrastructure. While the issue has since been fixed, the incident highlights a glaring oversight: even the most advanced AI models are only as trustworthy as the security behind them.
Here’s why caution is warranted:
DeepSeek specifically states in its terms of service that it collects, stores, and has permission to share just about all the data you provide while using the service.
Figure 1. Screenshot of DeepSeek Privacy Policy shared on LinkedIn
It specifically notes collecting your profile information, credit card details, and any files or data shared in chats. What’s more, that data isn’t stored in the United States, which has strict data privacy regulations. DeepSeek is a Chinese company with limited required protections for U.S. consumers and their personal data.
If you’re using AI tools—whether it’s ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or any other chatbot—it’s crucial to take steps to protect your information:
As AI chatbots like DeepSeek gain popularity, safeguarding your personal data is more critical than ever. With McAfee’s advanced security solutions, including identity protection and AI-powered threat detection, you can browse, chat, and interact online with greater confidence—because in the age of AI, privacy is power.
The post Explaining DeepSeek: The AI Disruptor That’s Raising Red Flags for Privacy and Security appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Identity theft is a growing concern, and Data Privacy Week serves as an important reminder to safeguard your personal information. In today’s digital age, scammers have more tools than ever to steal your identity, often with just a few key details—like your Social Security number, bank account information, or home address.
Unfortunately, identity theft claims have surged in recent years, jumping from approximately 650,000 in 2019 to over a million in 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This trend underscores the urgent need for stronger personal data protection habits.
So, how do scammers pull it off, and how can you protect yourself from becoming a victim?
How Do Scammers Steal Your Identity?
Scammers are resourceful, and there are multiple ways they can access your personal information. The theft can happen both in the physical and digital realms.
When scammers steal your identity, they often leave behind a trail of unusual activity that you can detect. Here are some common signs that could indicate identity theft:
If you suspect that your identity has been stolen, time is of the essence. Here’s what you need to do:
While you can’t completely eliminate the risk of identity theft, there are several steps you can take to protect yourself:
Identity theft can be a stressful and overwhelming experience, but by acting quickly and taking proactive steps to protect your personal information, you can minimize the damage and reclaim your identity.
The post How Scammers Steal Your Identity and What You Can Do About It appeared first on McAfee Blog.
We’re excited to announce the release of McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup, a new feature that finds and removes your personal info from data brokers and people search sites. Now, you can feel more confident by removing personal info from data broker sites and keeping it from being collected, sold, and used to: advertise products to you, fill your email box with spam, and can even give criminals the info they need to steal your identity. Let’s look at why we’re offering McAfee Personal Data Cleanup, how it protects your privacy, and why it’s a great addition to the online protection we already offer.
There’s so much to enjoy when you live a connected life – free email, online stores that remember what you like, social media that connects you to friends and influencers. It’s a world of convenience, opportunity, and incredible content. It’s also a world where your data is constantly collected.
That’s right, companies are collecting your personal data. They’re called data brokers and they make money by selling information that specifically identifies you, like an email address. They sell this information to marketers looking to target you with ads. Criminals can also use it to build profiles in service of stealing your identity and accessing your accounts. This activity takes place behind the scenes and often without consumers’ knowledge. There are also data brokers known as people search sites that compile and sell info like home addresses, emails, phones, court records, employment info, and more. These websites give identity thieves, hackers, stalkers, and other malicious actors easy access to your info. Regardless of how your data is being used, it’s clear that these days a more connected life often comes at the cost of your privacy.
In a recent survey of McAfee customers, we found that 59% have become more protective of their personal data over the past six months. And it’s no wonder. Over the past two years, trends like telehealth, remote working, and increased usage of online shopping and financial services have meant that more of your time is being spent online. Unsurprisingly, more personal data is being made available in the process. This leads us to the most alarming finding of our survey – 95% of consumers whose personal information ends up on data broker sites had it collected without their consent.
We created Personal Data Cleanup to make it easy for you to take back your privacy online. McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup regularly scans the riskiest data broker sites for info like your home address, date of birth, and names of relatives. After showing where we found your data, you can either remove it yourself or we will work on your behalf to remove it. Here’s how it works:
Ready to take back your personal info online? Personal Data Cleanup is available immediately with most of our online protection plans. If you have an eligible subscription, you can start using this new feature through McAfee Protection Center, or you can get McAfee online protection here.
The post Introducing Personal Data Cleanup appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Anuradha, Sakshi Jaiswal
In 2024, scams in India have continued to evolve, leveraging sophisticated methods and technology to exploit unsuspecting individuals. These fraudulent activities target people across demographics, causing financial losses and emotional distress. This blog highlights some of the most prevalent scams this year, how they operate, some real-world scenarios, tips to stay vigilant and what steps to be taken if you become a victim.
This blog covers the following scams:
Scam Tactics:
Fraudsters on WhatsApp employ deceptive tactics to steal personal information, financial data, or gain unauthorized access to accounts. Common tactics include:
Case 1: In the figure below, a user is being deceived by a message originating from the +244 country code, assigned to Angola. The message offers an unrealistic investment opportunity promising a high return in just four days, which is a common scam tactic. It uses pressure and informal language, along with a link for immediate action.
Case 2: In the figure below, a user is being deceived by a message originating from the +261 country code, assigned to Madagascar. The message claims that you have been hired and asks you to click a link to view the offer or contact the sender which is a scam.
Case 3: In the figure below, a user is being deceived by a message originating from the +91 country code, assigned to India. Scammers may contact you, posing as representatives of a legitimate company, offering a job opportunity. The recruiter offers an unrealistic daily income (INR 2000–8000) for vague tasks like searching keywords, which is suspicious. Despite requests, they fail to provide official company details or an email ID, raising credibility concerns. They also ask for personal information prematurely, a common red flag.
Case 4: In the figure below, a user is being deceived by a message originating from the +84 country code, assigned to Vietnam. The offer to earn money by watching a video for just a few seconds and providing a screenshot is a common tactic used by scammers to exploit individuals. They may use the link to gather personal information, or your action could lead to phishing attempts.
Case 5: In the figure below, a user is being misled by a message originating from the country codes +91, +963, and +27, corresponding to India, Syria, and South Africa, respectively. The message claims to offer a part-time job with a high salary for minimal work, which is a common tactic used by scammers to lure individuals. The use of popular names like “Amazon” and promises of easy money are red flags. The link provided might lead to phishing attempts or data theft. It’s important not to click on any links, share personal details, or respond to such unsolicited offers.
Case 6: The messages encourage you to post fake 5-star reviews for businesses in exchange for a small payment, which is unethical and often illegal. Scammers use such tactics to manipulate online ratings, and the provided links could lead to phishing sites or malware. Avoid engaging with these messages, clicking on the links, or participating in such activities.
How to Identify WhatsApp Scams:
Impact:
Prevention:
Scam Tactics:
How to Identify Instant Loan Scam:
Impact:
Prevention:
Voice-cloning scams use advanced AI technology to replicate the voices of familiar people, such as friends, family members, or colleagues, to manipulate victims into transferring money or providing sensitive information.
Scam Tactics:
How to Identify AI Voice-Cloning Scams:
Impact:
Prevention
Scam Tactics
Scammers use various methods to deceive victims into revealing credit card information or making unauthorized payments:
How to identify Credit card scam:
Impact:
Prevention:
Scam Tactics:
In fake delivery scams, fraudsters pose as delivery services to trick you into providing personal information, card details, or payment. Common tactics include:
How to Identify Fake Delivery Scams:
Impact:
Prevention:
Scam Tactics:
Scammers pose as police officers or government officials, accusing victims of being involved in illegal activities like money laundering or cybercrime. They intimidate victims by threatening arrest or legal action unless immediate payment is made to “resolve the matter.”
How to Identify Digital Arrest Scam:
Impact: Daily losses from such scams run into lakhs, as victims panic and transfer money or provide sensitive information under pressure.
Prevention:
What to Do if You Fall Victim
If you’ve fallen victim to any of the mentioned scams—Digital Arrest Scam, Instant Loan Scam, Voice Cloning Scam, WhatsApp Scam, Fake Delivery Scam or Credit Card Scam—it’s important to take immediate action to minimize damage and protect your finances and personal information. Here are common tips and steps to follow for all these scams:
Conclusion:
As scams in India continue to grow in number and sophistication, it is crucial to raise awareness to protect individuals and businesses from falling victim to these fraudulent schemes. Scams such as phishing, fake job offers, credit card scams, loan scams, investment frauds and online shopping frauds are increasingly targeting unsuspecting victims, causing significant financial loss and emotional harm.
By raising awareness of scam warning signs and encouraging vigilance, we can equip individuals to make safer, more informed decisions online. Simple precautions, such as verifying sources, being cautious of unsolicited offers, and safeguarding personal and financial information, can go a long way in preventing scams.
It is essential for both individuals and organizations to stay informed and updated on emerging scam tactics. Through continuous awareness and proactive security measures, we can reduce the impact of scams, ensuring a safer and more secure digital environment for everyone in India.
The post Rising Scams in India: Building Awareness and Prevention appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Data Privacy Week is here, and there’s no better time to shine a spotlight on one of the biggest players in the personal information economy: data brokers. These entities collect, buy, and sell hundreds—sometimes thousands—of data points on individuals like you. But how do they manage to gather so much information, and for what purpose? From your browsing habits and purchase history to your location data and even more intimate details, these digital middlemen piece together surprisingly comprehensive profiles. The real question is: where are they getting it all, and why is your personal data so valuable to them? Let’s unravel the mystery behind the data broker industry.
Data brokers aggregate user info from various sources on the internet. They collect, collate, package, and sometimes even analyze this data to create a holistic and coherent version of you online. This data then gets put up for sale to nearly anyone who’ll buy it. That can include marketers, private investigators, tech companies, and sometimes law enforcement as well. They’ll also sell to spammers and scammers. (Those bad actors need to get your contact info from somewhere — data brokers are one way to get that and more.)
And that list of potential buyers goes on, which includes but isn’t limited to:
These companies and social media platforms use your data to better understand target demographics and the content with which they interact. While the practice isn’t unethical in and of itself (personalizing user experiences and creating more convenient UIs are usually cited as the primary reasons for it), it does make your data vulnerable to malicious attacks targeted toward big-tech servers.
Most of your online activities are related. Devices like your phone, laptop, tablets, and even fitness watches are linked to each other. Moreover, you might use one email ID for various accounts and subscriptions. This online interconnectedness makes it easier for data brokers to create a cohesive user profile.
Mobile phone apps are the most common way for data brokerage firms to collect your data. You might have countless apps for various purposes, such as financial transactions, health and fitness, or social media.
A number of these apps usually fall under the umbrella of the same or subsidiary family of apps, all of which work toward collecting and supplying data to big tech platforms. Programs like Google’s AdSense make it easier for developers to monetize their apps in exchange for the user information they collect.
Data brokers also collect data points like your home address, full name, phone number, and date of birth. They have automated scraping tools to quickly collect relevant information from public records (think sales of real estate, marriages, divorces, voter registration, and so on).
Lastly, data brokers can gather data from other third parties that track your cookies or even place trackers or cookies on your browsers. Cookies are small data files that track your online activities when visiting different websites. They track your IP address and browsing history, which third parties can exploit. Cookies are also the reason you see personalized ads and products.
Data brokers collate your private information into one package and sell it to “people search” websites. As mentioned above, practically anyone can access these websites and purchase extensive consumer data, for groups of people and individuals alike.
Next, marketing and sales firms are some of data brokers’ biggest clients. These companies purchase massive data sets from data brokers to research your data profile. They have advanced algorithms to segregate users into various consumer groups and target you specifically. Their predictive algorithms can suggest personalized ads and products to generate higher lead generation and conversation percentages for their clients.
We tend to accept the terms and conditions that various apps ask us to accept without thinking twice or reading the fine print. You probably cannot proceed without letting the app track certain data or giving your personal information. To a certain extent, we trade some of our privacy for convenience. This becomes public information, and apps and data brokers collect, track, and use our data however they please while still complying with the law.
There is no comprehensive privacy law in the U.S. on a federal level. This allows data brokers to collect personal information and condense it into marketing insights. While not all methods of gathering private data are legal, it is difficult to track the activities of data brokers online (especially on the dark web). As technology advances, there are also easier ways to harvest and exploit data.
As of March 2024, 15 states in the U.S. have data privacy laws in place. That includes California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Montana, Texas, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.[i] The laws vary by state, yet generally, they grant rights to individuals around the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal data by businesses.
However, these laws make exceptions for certain types of data and certain types of collectors. In short, these laws aren’t absolute.
Some data brokers let you remove your information from their websites. There are also extensive guides available online that list the method by which you can opt-out of some of the biggest data brokering firms. For example, a guide by Griffin Boyce, the systems administrator at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, provides detailed information on how to opt-out of a long list of data broker companies.
Yet the list of data brokers is long. Cleaning up your personal data online can quickly eat up your time, as it requires you to reach out to multiple data brokers and opt-out.
Rather than removing yourself one by one from the host of data broker sites out there, you have a solid option: our Personal Data Cleanup.
Personal Data Cleanup scans data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites. And if you want to save time on manually removing that info, you have options. Our McAfee+ Advanced and Ultimate plans come with full-service Personal Data Cleanup, which sends requests to remove your data automatically.
If the thought of your personal info getting bought and sold in such a public way bothers you, our Personal Data Cleanup can put you back in charge of it.
[i] https://pro.bloomberglaw.com/insights/privacy/state-privacy-legislation-tracker/
The post How Data Brokers Sell Your Identity appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Romance scams have surged in sophistication, preying on emotions and exploiting the trust of victims in the digital age.
The latest case involving a French woman who believed she was romantically involved with actor Brad Pitt is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities we face online. But this incident, unfortunately, does not stand alone. Scammers continue to exploit celebrity fame to defraud unsuspecting victims, using deepfakes and other manipulative tactics. Recent examples include:
The most recent Brad Pitt impersonation scam follows a straightforward but insidious pattern of manipulation. Here’s how the scam unfolded step by step:
The Initial Contact: Anne, a French interior decorator, downloaded Instagram during a family ski trip. Shortly after, she was approached by a scammer pretending to be Brad Pitt’s mother, who claimed her son needed someone like Anne in his life.
Building Trust: The scammer, posing as Pitt, used AI-generated photos and emotionally charged messages to gain Anne’s trust. The fake Brad Pitt “knew how to talk to women,” according to Anne, creating a sense of intimacy and connection.
Figure 1. These fake images were used in a fake Brad Pitt romance scam.
The Financial Request: The scammer fabricated a crisis, claiming Pitt needed $1 million for a kidney treatment but couldn’t access his funds due to his ongoing divorce from Angelina Jolie. Playing on Anne’s empathy, the fraudster requested financial help.
The Emotional Manipulation: At the time, Anne was going through her own divorce and had recently received a settlement. Believing she was aiding someone in need, she transferred $850,000 to the scammer.
The Scam Unravels: The hoax came to light after Pitt publicly debuted his relationship with Ines de Ramon at the Venice Film Festival. This contradiction exposed the deception and ended the scam.
Brad Pitt recently spoke out, according to Variety, condemning the scammers for taking “advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities.”
Romance scammers often exploit online dating platforms, social media, and fan communities to identify potential victims. Being aware of the warning signs can help you identify and avoid romance scams:
Unrealistic Claims: If someone’s story seems too good to be true, it likely is. For example, a Hollywood star personally reaching out on a fan site is improbable. Celebrities rarely engage in direct, personal communication with fans, especially through unofficial platforms like fan sites, due to time constraints, security concerns, and the sheer volume of fan interactions.
Urgent Requests for Money: Scammers often fabricate crises requiring immediate financial assistance.
Reluctance to Meet in Person: Excuses to avoid face-to-face meetings or video calls can signal deception.
Inconsistencies in Their Story: Contradictory details or vague answers are common red flags.
Pressure to Keep the Relationship Secret: Scammers may isolate victims by discouraging them from discussing the relationship with friends or family.
While the tactics of romance scammers can be sophisticated, there are steps you can take to safeguard your heart and your finances:
Verify Identities: Use reverse image searches to check if profile pictures are stolen. Research their claims and background.
Be Cautious with Personal Information: Avoid sharing sensitive details, such as financial information or passwords.
Avoid Sending Money: Never transfer funds to someone you haven’t met in person, regardless of their story.
Keep Conversations Public: Use the messaging platform of the dating site or social media app rather than moving to private communication.
Watch Out For in AI: Artificial intelligence (AI) has made it much easier for scammers to create deepfake audio and video to create even more realistic romance scams. McAfee’s Ultimate Guide to AI Deepfakes can help you learn how to spot and protect yourself from deepfakes.
Trust Your Instincts: If something feels off, listen to your intuition, which can pick up on subtle inconsistencies or red flags that your conscious mind may overlook, acting as an early warning system.
Figure 2. An AI-generated image that circulated widely showed the Pope wearing a designer coat.
If you believe you are being targeted by a romance scam, take the following steps:
Cease Communication: Stop interacting with the individual immediately.
Report the Incident: Notify the dating platform or social media site, and report the scam to your local authorities or organizations like the FTC.
Protect Your Accounts: Change passwords and monitor your financial accounts for suspicious activity.
Seek Support: Talk to trusted friends or family members about the situation.
Raising awareness about romance scams is essential in preventing others from falling victim. Share information about common tactics and red flags with your loved ones, particularly those who may be more vulnerable, such as elderly family members or friends navigating online dating for the first time.
While the promise of romance can be enticing, it’s crucial to approach online relationships with caution and awareness.
By recognizing red flags, protecting your personal information, and reporting suspicious activity, you can safeguard yourself and others from the emotional and financial devastation of romance scams.
The post Breaking Down the Brad Pitt Scam: How it Happened and What We Can Learn appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Aayush Tyagi
Video game hacks, cracked software, and free crypto tools remain popular bait for malware authors. Recently, McAfee Labs uncovered several GitHub repositories offering these tempting “rewards,” but a closer look reveals something more sinister. As the saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
GitHub is often exploited for malware distribution due to its accessibility, trustworthiness, and developer-friendly features. Attackers can easily create free accounts and host repositories that appear legitimate, leveraging GitHub’s reputation to deceive users.
McAfee Labs encountered multiple repositories, offering game hacks for top-selling video games such as Apex Legends, Minecraft, Counter Strike 2.0, Roblox, Valorant,
Fortnite, Call of Duty, GTA V and or offering cracked versions of popular software and services, such as Spotify Premium, FL Studio, Adobe Express, SketchUp Pro, Xbox Game Pass, and Discord to name a few.
These attack chains begin when users would search for Game Hacks, cracked software or tools related to Cryptocurrency on the internet, where they would eventually come across GitHub repositories or YouTube Videos leading to such GitHub repositories, offering such software.
We noticed a network of such repositories where the description of software keeps on changing, but the payload remains the same: a Lumma Stealer variant. Every week, a new set of repositories with a new malware variant is released, as the older repositories are detected and removed by GitHub. These repositories also include distribution licenses and software screenshots to enhance their appearance of legitimacy.
Figure 1: Attack Vector
These repositories also contain instructions on how to download and run the malware and ask the user to disable Windows Defender or any AV software, before downloading the malware. They provide the reasoning that, since the software is related to game hacks or by-passing software authentication or crypto-currency mining, AV products will detect and delete these applications.
This social engineering technique, combined with the trustworthiness of GitHub works well in the favor of malware authors, enabling them to infect more users.
Children are frequently targeted by such scams, as malware authors exploit their interest in game hacks by highlighting potential features and benefits, making it easier to infect more systems.
As discussed above, the users would come across malicious repositories through searching the internet (highlighted in red).
Figure 2: Internet Search showing GitHub results.
Or through YouTube videos, that contain a link to the repository in the description (highlighted in red).
Figure 3: YouTube Video containing malicious URL in description.
Once the user accesses the GitHub repository, it contains a Distribution license and other supporting files, to trick the user into thinking that the repository is genuine and credible.
Figure 4: GitHub repository containing Distribution license.
Repositories also contain a detailed description of the software and installation process further manipulating the user.
Figure 5: Download instructions present in the repository.
Sometimes, the repositories contain instructions to disable AV products, misleading users to infect themselves with the malware.
Figure 6: Instructions to disable Windows Defender.
To target more children, repositories contain a detailed description of the software; by highlighting all the features included within the package, such as Aimbots and Speed Hacks, and how easily they will be able to gain an advantage over their opponents.
They even mention that the package comes with advance Anti-Ban system, so their account won’t be suspended, and that the software has a popular community, to create a perception that, since multiple users are already using this software, it must be safe to use and that, by not using the software, they are missing out.
Figure 7: Features mentioned in the GitHub repository.
The downloaded files, in most cases, were Lumma Stealer variants, but observing the latest repositories, we noticed new malware variants were also being distributed through the same infection vector.
Once the user downloads the file, they get the following set of files.
Figure 8: Files downloaded from GitHub repository.
On running the ‘Loader.exe’ file, as instructed, it iterates through the system and the registry keys to collect sensitive information.
Figure 9: Loader.exe checking for Login credentials for Chrome.
It searches for crypto wallets and password related files. It searches for a list of browsers installed and iterates through user data, to gather anything useful.
Figure 10: Loader.exe checking for Browsers installed on the system.
Then the malware connects to C2 servers to transfer data.
Figure 11: Loader.exe connecting to C2 servers to transfer data.
This behavior is similar to the Lumma Stealer variants we have seen earlier.
McAfee blocks this infection chain at multiple stages:
Figure 12: McAfee blocking URLs
Figure 13: McAfee blocking the malicious file
In conclusion, the GitHub repository infection chain demonstrates how cybercriminals exploit accessibility and trustworthiness of popular websites such as GitHub, to distribute malware like Lumma Stealer. By leveraging the user’s desire to use game hacks, to be better at a certain video game or obtain licensed software for free, they trick users into infecting themselves.
At McAfee Labs, we are committed to helping organizations protect themselves against sophisticated cyber threats, such as the GitHub repository technique. Here are our recommended mitigations and remediations:
As of publishing this blog, these are the GitHub repositories that are currently active.
| File Type | SHA256/URLs |
| URLs | github[.]com/632763276327ermwhatthesigma/hack-apex-1egend |
| github[.]com/VynnProjects/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/TechWezTheMan/Discord-AllinOne-Tool | |
| github[.]com/UNDERBOSSDS/ESET-KeyGen-2024 | |
| github[.]com/Rinkocuh/Dayz-Cheat-H4ck-A1mb0t | |
| github[.]com/Magercat/Al-Photoshop-2024 | |
| github[.]com/nate24321/minecraft-cheat2024 | |
| github[.]com/classroom-x-games/counter-str1ke-2-h4ck | |
| github[.]com/LittleHa1r/ESET-KeyGen-2024 | |
| github[.]com/ferhatdermaster/Adobe-Express-2024 | |
| github[.]com/CrazFrogb/23fasd21/releases/download/loader/Loader[.]Github[.]zip | |
| github[.]com/flashkiller2018/Black-Ops-6-Cheats-including-Unlocker-Tool-and-RICOCHET-Bypass | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/r0blox-synapse-x-free | |
| github[.]com/FlqmzeCraft/cheat-escape-from-tarkov | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/cheat-escape-from-tarkov | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/rust-hack-fr33 | |
| github[.]com/ppetriix/rust-hack-fr33 | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/Roblox-Blox-Fruits-Script-2024 | |
| github[.]com/LandonPasana21/Roblox-Blox-Fruits-Script-2024 | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/Rainbow-S1x-Siege-Cheat | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/SonyVegas-2024 | |
| github[.]com/123456789433/SonyVegas-2024 | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/Nexus-Roblox | |
| github[.]com/cIeopatra/Nexus-Roblox | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/m0dmenu-gta5-free | |
| github[.]com/GerardoR17/m0dmenu-gta5-free | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/minecraft-cheat2024 | |
| github[.]com/RakoBman/cheat-apex-legends-download | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/cheat-apex-legends-download | |
| github[.]com/cIiqued/FL-Studio | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/FL-Studio | |
| github[.]com/Axsle-gif/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/Ayush9876643/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/SUPAAAMAN/m0dmenu-gta5-free | |
| github[.]com/atomicthefemboy/cheat-apex-legends-download | |
| github[.]com/FlqmzeCraft/cheat-escape-from-tarkov | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/FL-Studio | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/r0blox-synapse-x-free | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/cheat-apex-legends-download | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/cheat-escape-from-tarkov | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/rust-hack-fr33 | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/Roblox-Blox-Fruits-Script-2024 | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/Rainbow-S1x-Siege-Cheat | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/SonyVegas-2024 | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/Nexus-Roblox | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/minecraft-cheat2024 | |
| github[.]com/Notalight/m0dmenu-gta5-free | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/r0blox-synapse-x-free | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/cheat-escape-from-tarkov | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/rust-hack-fr33 | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/Roblox-Blox-Fruits-Script-2024 | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/Rainbow-S1x-Siege-Cheat | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/Nexus-Roblox | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/m0dmenu-gta5-free | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/minecraft-cheat2024 | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/h4ck-f0rtnite | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/FL-Studio | |
| github[.]com/ZinkosBR/cheat-apex-legends-download | |
| github[.]com/EliminatorGithub/counter-str1ke-2-h4ck | |
| Github[.]com/ashishkumarku10/call-0f-duty-warz0ne-h4ck | |
| EXEs | CB6DDBF14DBEC8AF55986778811571E6 |
| C610FD2A7B958E79F91C5F058C7E3147 | |
| 3BBD94250371A5B8F88B969767418D70 | |
| CF19765D8A9A2C2FD11A7A8C4BA3DEDA | |
| 69E530BC331988E4E6FE904D2D23242A | |
| 35A2BDC924235B5FA131095985F796EF | |
| EB604E2A70243ACB885FE5A944A647C3 | |
| 690DBCEA5902A1613CEE46995BE65909 | |
| 2DF535AFF67A94E1CDAD169FFCC4562A | |
| 84100E7D46DF60FE33A85F16298EE41C | |
| 00BA06448D5E03DFBFA60A4BC2219193 | |
| C2 Domains | 104.21.48.1 |
| 104.21.112.1 | |
| 104.21.16.1 |
The post GitHub’s Dark Side: Unveiling Malware Disguised as Cracks, Hacks, and Crypto Tools appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Inauguration Day has come and gone, and the peaceful transfer of power couldn’t have happened without the intricate systems that ensure the integrity of the electoral process—specifically, cybersecurity.
Behind the scenes, a vast network of digital defenses worked to protect elections from disinformation, cyberattacks, and manipulation, all of which pose increasing threats in today’s digital age. From securing ballots to combating deepfakes, these measures play a critical role in upholding trust in democracy and making days like Inauguration Day possible.
In the digital age, elections face unprecedented threats designed to undermine public trust and disrupt democratic processes. Among the most common challenges are:
These threats highlight the urgent need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect the democratic process.
To counter these threats, governments and organizations have implemented advanced strategies and technologies:
These measures are critical in securing the journey from Election Day to Inauguration Day, building public confidence in the democratic process.
As you consume news about the inauguration and the new administration, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant about fake news. Fake news crops up in plenty of places on social media. And it has for some time now. In years past, it took the form of misleading posts, image captions, quotes, and the sharing of outright false information in graphs and charts. Now with the advent of AI, we see fake news taken to new levels of deception:
It’s critical to be wary of disinformation, intentionally misleading information manipulated to create a flat-out lie, as well as misinformation, which may include social posts that unknowingly get facts wrong.
To combat misinformation and AI deepfakes, it’s key to:
Deepfakes don’t just spread false information—they often lead users to phishing sites or malware. With tools like McAfee+, you can navigate the digital landscape with confidence.
The post From Election Day to Inauguration: How Cybersecurity Safeguards Democracy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
McAfee Total Protection users can feel even more secure online knowing that AV-Comparatives has named it the best in 2024 for both real-world protection and overall speed.
The two awards – the 2024 Real-World Protection Gold Award and the Best Overall Speed Gold Award – underscore McAfee’s commitment to providing powerful security without compromising PC performance, a critical combination at a time when 59% of people globally report falling victim to an online scam or knowing someone who has, with 87% of these individuals losing money—an astounding average loss of $1,366 USD.
“We are honored to receive both the Best Real-World Protection and the Best PC Performance awards,” said McAfee Chief Technology Officer Steve Grobman. “AV-Comparatives is a renowned institute with a reputation for analysis and quality assurance that stands tall, and this recognition further reinforces our leadership in online protection. With our AI-powered threat protection, we remain committed to staying one step ahead of cybercriminals while having the lowest impact on PC performance, so that people can enjoy their online lives with confidence.”
Each year, AV-Comparatives rigorously tests leading consumer security products to evaluate their effectiveness in real-world scenarios as well as their impact on system performance. McAfee’s standout results reflect the strength of its:
Protect yourself and your family today with McAfee Total Protection, which includes the award-winning anti-malware technology, scam protection, identity monitoring, Secure VPN, password management, and safe browsing capabilities for all-in-one security.
Get started with a free trial of McAfee Total Protection here. McAfee’s award-winning technology is also available in McAfee+ Premium, McAfee+ Advanced, and McAfee+ Ultimate.
Read the full report on AV-Comparatives’ awards here.
The post AV-Comparatives Crowns McAfee as 2024’s Leader in Online Protection and Speed appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Private tech companies gather tremendous amounts of user data. These companies can afford to let you use social media platforms free of charge because it’s paid for by your data, attention, and time.
Big tech derives most of its profits by selling your attention to advertisers — a well-known business model. Various documentaries (like Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma”) have tried to get to the bottom of the complex algorithms that big tech companies employ to mine and analyze user data for the benefit of third-party advertisers.
Tech companies benefit from personal info by being able to provide personalized ads. When you click “yes” at the end of a terms and conditions agreement found on some web pages, you might be allowing the companies to collect the following data:
For someone unfamiliar with privacy issues, it is important to understand the extent of big tech’s tracking and data collection. After these companies collect data, all this info can be supplied to third-party businesses or used to improve user experience.
The problem with this is that big tech has blurred the line between collecting customer data and violating user privacy in some cases. While tracking what content you interact with can be justified under the garb of personalizing the content you see, big tech platforms have been known to go too far. Prominent social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn have faced legal trouble for accessing personal user data like private messages and saved photos.
The info you provide helps build an accurate character profile and turns it into knowledge that gives actionable insights to businesses. Private data usage can be classified into three cases: selling it to data brokers, using it to improve marketing, or enhancing customer experience.
To sell your info to data brokers
Along with big data, another industry has seen rapid growth: data brokers. Data brokers buy, analyze, and package your data. Companies that collect large amounts of data on their users stand to profit from this service. Selling data to brokers is an important revenue stream for big tech companies.
Advertisers and businesses benefit from increased info on their consumers, creating a high demand for your info. The problem here is that companies like Facebook and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) have been known to mine massive amounts of user data for the sake of their advertisers.
To personalize marketing efforts
Marketing can be highly personalized thanks to the availability of large amounts of consumer data. Tracking your response to marketing campaigns can help businesses alter or improve certain aspects of their campaign to drive better results.
The problem is that most AI-based algorithms are incapable of assessing when they should stop collecting or using your info. After a point, users run the risk of being constantly subjected to intrusive ads and other unconsented marketing campaigns that pop up frequently.
To cater to the customer experience
Analyzing consumer behavior through reviews, feedback, and recommendations can help improve customer experience. Businesses have access to various facets of data that can be analyzed to show them how to meet consumer demands. This might help improve any part of a consumer’s interaction with the company, from designing special offers and discounts to improving customer relationships.
For most social media platforms, the goal is to curate a personalized feed that appeals to users and allows them to spend more time on the app. When left unmonitored, the powerful algorithms behind these social media platforms can repeatedly subject you to the same kind of content from different creators.
Here are the big tech companies that collect and mine the most user data.
Users need a comprehensive data privacy solution to tackle the rampant, large-scale data mining carried out by big tech platforms. While targeted advertisements and easily found items are beneficial, many of these companies collect and mine user data through several channels simultaneously, exploiting them in several ways.
It’s important to ensure your personal info is protected. Protection solutions like McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature can help. It scours the web for traces of your personal info and helps remove it for your online privacy.
McAfee+ provides antivirus software for all your digital devices and a secure VPN connection to avoid exposure to malicious third parties while browsing the internet. Our Identity Monitoring and personal data removal solutions further remove gaps in your devices’ security systems.
With our data protection and custom guidance (complete with a protection score for each platform and tips to keep you safer), you can be sure that your internet identity is protected.
The post What Personal Data Do Companies Track? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The devastating wildfires sweeping through Southern California have left countless neighborhoods in ruins, forcing thousands to evacuate and destroying homes in their path. While many people across the nation are moved to support those affected, this goodwill often becomes a target for opportunistic cybercriminals. McAfee researchers have discovered that social media networks have been flooded with deceptive images, showing how cryptocurrencies can be used to make donations for fire relief efforts. We believe these to be scams trying to dupe consumers. McAfee CTO, Steve Grobman says, “It’s really unfortunate because it’s such a tragic event, and we’re seeing cybercriminals and scammers take advantage of the situation in a whole host of ways, from fake GoFundMe sites to fraudulent campaign donation pages.”
Figure 1. Cryptocurrency Donation Requests
Steve continues, “The use of generative AI has fueled the creation of fake content, like viral images of the Hollywood sign engulfed in flames, which our deepfake detection technology confirmed were AI-generated. These tools are helping scammers misrepresent reality and exploit public emotions. We’ve seen fake accounts impersonating celebrities like Emma Watson and Kim Kardashian, promoting nonexistent charities to deceive people into donating money.”
The average American encounters a staggering 14.4 scam messages and deepfakes daily through social media, text messages, and emails, according to McAfee’s latest “State of the Scamiverse” report.
Now, think about this: even in your everyday life, that’s a lot of noise to sift through. But when you’re in the chaos of recovering from a disaster like a wildfire—juggling insurance claims, emergency communications, and rebuilding your life—the sheer volume of scams adds another layer of overwhelm. It’s a perfect storm for distraction, making it even easier for cybercriminals to exploit your vulnerability. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself from scams while providing genuine help to wildfire victims.
Natural disasters and major news events provide fertile ground for cybercriminals. Cliff Steinhauer, Director of Information Security at the National Cybersecurity Alliance, explains that people eager to help during a crisis can act emotionally, skipping necessary steps to verify the legitimacy of donation platforms or relief efforts.
Scammers watch disaster news closely to craft scams tailored to the event. The emotional urgency surrounding a catastrophe like the California wildfires increases the likelihood of falling victim to these attacks.
A recent McAfee survey found that 59% of Americans say they or someone they know has been the victim of an online scam. 84% of these people lost money to the scam, with an average loss of $1,471 – and nearly 1 in 10 scam victims lost over $5,000
Many scams during crises fall under the umbrella of social engineering, a tactic where attackers manipulate people into divulging sensitive information or funds. Here are some of the most common schemes to watch out for:
Scammers often create counterfeit websites or social media posts masquerading as legitimate charities. These pages may look convincing but divert donations into the hands of criminals.
Emails, texts, and phone calls pretending to be from government agencies or well-known charities may attempt to steal personal data or payment details.
Victims of disasters are especially vulnerable. Scammers might pose as organizations offering aid, only to harvest sensitive information like bank account details or steal identities.
Modern scammers use AI to craft phishing attempts that are harder to spot. Unlike older scams with obvious grammar mistakes, AI-generated messages can appear professional and persuasive.
Figure 2. Fake Celebrity Donation Requests
Whether you’re donating to wildfire relief efforts or seeking aid, these steps can help protect you:
Use trusted resources like Give.org or Charity Navigator to confirm the legitimacy of charities.
Platforms like GoFundMe now provide verified lists of fundraisers for disaster relief.
Be wary of websites with misspelled URLs or unusual domain extensions. Look for “https” and padlock symbols to confirm the site is secure.
Phishing attempts often come via unsolicited emails, texts, or social media ads. Instead of clicking, go directly to a charity’s official website by typing its address into your browser.
Not all paid advertisements on platforms like Facebook or Instagram are legitimate. Avoid providing personal or payment information through these channels without verification.
Be cautious of campaigns that fail to explain how your donation will be used. Reputable organizations are transparent about how funds are allocated.
Steve Grobman states, “If consumers want to help with relief efforts, they should always go to validated organizations and use payment methods with protections, like credit cards. Wiring money or using cryptocurrency can make it nearly impossible to recover funds if it turns out to be fraudulent. While many GoFundMe sites are legitimate, scammers exploit the platform’s low barrier to entry. Consumers should verify campaigns with the individuals or families they claim to support or stick to reputable charities.”
In the aftermath of California wildfires, staying vigilant is essential. While most people are dedicated to recovery and support, a few may attempt to exploit the situation. By learning to spot common scams and taking proactive steps, you can safeguard yourself and your community from additional harm. Use a robust and trustworthy scam detection tool. McAfee can block risky sites even if you accidentally click a link in a scam text. When it comes to text messages, our smart AI puts a stop to scams before you click—detecting any suspicious links and sending you an alert.
In an age where deepfake technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, protecting yourself from manipulated videos, audio, and images is critical. McAfee Deepfake Detector is designed to safeguard individuals and organizations by identifying and alerting you to potential deepfakes, ensuring that you can trust what you see and hear online.
The post Scammers Exploit California Wildfires: How to Stay Safe appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Amid the devastation of the Los Angeles County wildfires – scorching an area twice the size of Manhattan – McAfee threat researchers have identified and verified a rise in AI-generated deepfakes and misinformation, including startling but false images of the Hollywood sign engulfed in flames.
Social media and local broadcast news have been flooded with deceptive images claiming the Hollywood sign is engulfed in flames, with many people alleging that the iconic landmark is “surrounded by fire.”
Figure 1. AI-generated image shared on Facebook on January 9th, 2025.
Fact check: The Hollywood sign is still standing and is intact. A live feed of the Hollywood sign clearly shows the sign is not currently in harm’s way or engulfed in flames.
Figure 2: Live view of the Hollywood sign taken at 3.29 PT on Friday, January 10th 2025.
McAfee researchers have examined dozens of images shared across X, Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram, and have verified these are indeed AI-generated images and videos. In addition to analysis from our own threat researchers, McAfee’s image deepfake detection technology has flagged images shown here (and many more) of the Hollywood Hills as AI-generated, with the fire serving as a key factor in its analysis.
McAfee’s investigation traced many of the images back to Gemini, an AI-based image generation platform. This finding underscores the increasing sophistication of fake image synthesis, where fake images and videos can be created in mere seconds, but can be spread to more than a million views in just 24 hours, such as is the case with the social post shared on Facebook below.
Figure 3: Screenshot of deepfake video of Hollywood sign on fire. This video was discovered on Facebook and had already achieved 1.3 million views in 24 hours.
McAfee CTO, Steve Grobman states, “AI tools have supercharged the spread of disinformation and misinformation, enabling false content—like recent fake images of the Hollywood sign engulfed in flames—to circulate at unprecedented speed. This makes it critical for social media users to keep their guard up, approach viral posts with skepticism, and verify sources to distinguish fact from fiction.”
Figure 4. McAfee’s advanced AI models identifies images that have been modified or created using AI. The heatmap depicts areas that have been used to identify and confirm AI-usage.
AI-generated still images are incredibly easy to produce. In less than a minute, we were able to produce a convincing image of the Hollywood Hills sign on fire for free with AI image generating Android app (we have not published these images, only those found on social media). Many of these apps exist to choose from. Some do filter for violent and other objectionable content. However, images like the Hollywood Hills sign on fire, fall outside of normal guardrails. Additionally, the business model of many of these apps include free credits as a trial, making it quick and easy to create and share. AI image generation is a widely available and easily accessible tool used in many misinformation campaigns.
See below for more examples:
Figure 5. Examples on Instagram.
Upon closer inspection, some images had watermark images clearly labeled from Generative AI tools such as Grok. And while this might be an obvious telltale sign for some people, there are many others who are not familiar with or recognize such watermarks.
Figure 6. The Grok watermark is clearly visible in the image above.
There are several straightforward steps that you can take to spot a fake. We recommend a combination of healthy skepticism and awareness combined with the right technology, such as McAfee Deepfake Detector.
While not all AI is malicious or ‘bad’, this technology is commonly used by bad actors for malicious intent when it comes to deepfake scams, misinformation and disinformation. While the deepfakes outlined here appear to be without malicious intent – other than to misinform social media users – we could expect these to evolve where scammers create similar deepfakes as part of fake donation scams, and so we advise everyone to stay vigilant and learn more on how to spot deepfakes online:
Plenty of deepfakes can lure you into sketchy corners of the internet. Places where malware and phishing sites take root. Consider using comprehensive online protection software with McAfee+ and McAfee Deepfake Detector to keep safe. In addition to several features that protect your devices, privacy, and identity, they can warn you of unsafe sites too.
The post The Hollywood Sign is Not on Fire: Deepfakes Spread During L.A. Wildfires appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In a world where deepfake scams and misinformation are increasingly pervasive, McAfee is taking a bold step forward with major enhancements to its AI-powered deepfake detection technology. By partnering with AMD and harnessing the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) within the latest AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors announced at CES, McAfee Deepfake Detector is designed to empower users to discern truth from fiction like never before.
As deepfake technology becomes more sophisticated, so too does the challenge of identifying manipulated content. Nearly two-thirds of people globally report rising concerns over deepfakes, emphasizing the need for tools that can accurately detect falsified content.
To address this growing issue, McAfee introduced its cutting-edge AI technology, now supercharged through its collaboration with AMD, McAfee Deepfake Detector can deliver detection in seconds to help consumers navigate videos increasingly riddled with misinformation.
Cybercriminals are leveraging AI to manipulate audio and video, creating hyper-realistic deepfakes that are difficult to identify with the naked eye. McAfee’s Deepfake Detector uses advanced Convolution Neural Network models—AI tools specifically trained to identify manipulated or AI-generated audio within videos.
This groundbreaking technology is aimed at not only enhancing online safety but also setting a new standard for AI-powered tools.
McAfee’s partnership with AMD takes deepfake detection to the next level. By leveraging the 50 TOPS of performance in the latest AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors, McAfee Deepfake Detector achieves lightning–fast detection of deepfakes. This collaboration announced at CES marks a significant leap forward in balancing AI performance with user privacy, giving consumers the best of both worlds: robust protection and peace of mind.
This newest generation of AMD mobile processors represents huge leaps forward not just in compute and graphics performance but also in AI capabilities and experiences, all powered by the world’s most advanced family of processors1. McAfee Deepfake Detector leverages AMD XDNA 2 architecture providing up to a 5X increase in NPU power vs. the previous generation2, confirming continued AMD leadership in innovation and performance in this new category of AI PC computing.
McAfee’s Deepfake Detector integrates effortlessly into the user’s workflow, ensuring that everyone—from professionals to casual users—can access next-level protection without technical hurdles.
As deepfake technology evolves, McAfee Deepfake Detector is a game-changer in the fight against misinformation and scams. By combining AI-powered detection with the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors and NPU technology, McAfee delivers:
Stay one step ahead of deepfake threats. Whether you’re a professional, a consumer, or simply navigating the digital world, McAfee empowers you to discern truth from fiction—designed for a safer, more secure online experience.
1 Based on node size. As of January 2024, AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors are amongst the most advanced series of processors based on 4nm node size, whereas available competitive (non-AMD) x86 laptop processors are based on 7nm TSMC process.
2 Based on engineering specifications as of May 2024 comparing total TOPS capacity for Ryzen AI 300 Series processor’s NPU to Ryzen 7040 Series processor’s NPU.
The post McAfee Deepfake Detector: Fighting Misinformation with AMD AI-Powered Precision appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As CES kicks off in Las Vegas, McAfee proudly stands at the forefront of innovation, showcasing our leadership in AI and our commitment to driving transformative breakthroughs in tech. Here are the key highlights of McAfee’s participation at CES 2025:
At CES, we are announcing McAfee Scam Detector – the most comprehensive protection against text, email, and video scams. Today’s scams are smarter, sneakier, and more convincing than ever. We’re helping consumers take back control with AI-powered scam detection to stop scammers in their tracks.
Tuesday Spotlight:
Dan Huynh, McAfee’s VP of Business Development, joins a panel of business leaders to explore the capabilities of AI-powered PCs. From enhanced video and photo editing to faster computing speeds and improved security, this session delves into how AI PCs are reshaping work, play, and creativity.
McAfee has announced an exciting partnership with AMD to combat deepfake scams and misinformation. The McAfee Deepfake Detector now leverages the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors, enabling faster and more accurate detection of manipulated content.
Qualcomm is also showcasing McAfee’s Deepfake Detector technology at CES, with demos running on their high-performance, low-powered AI silicon. These demonstrations highlight McAfee’s commitment to tackling the growing threat of malicious AI deepfakes.
Thursday Spotlight:
German Lancioni, McAfee’s Chief AI Scientist, takes the stage to discuss using AI as a tool against AI-generated disinformation. This session will tackle the question: How can people trust what they see in a world of malicious AI deepfakes?
As CES 2025 unfolds, McAfee is proud to lead the charge in addressing the challenges and opportunities that AI brings to our increasingly digital world. Through groundbreaking innovations, strategic partnerships, and thought leadership, we’re not just imagining the future of tech—we’re actively shaping it.
We invite you to join us and our partners at CES to experience our cutting-edge technologies firsthand, engage with experts, and learn how McAfee is redefining security in the age of AI. Together, we’re building a safer, smarter, and more trusted digital landscape for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
The post McAfee Shines at CES 2025: Redefining AI Protection for All appeared first on McAfee Blog.
For less than the cost of a latte and in under 10 minutes, scammers today can create shockingly convincing deepfake videos of anyone: your mom, your boss, or even your child.
Imagine receiving a video call from your mom asking to borrow money for an emergency, or getting a voicemail from your boss requesting urgent access to company accounts. These scenarios might seem straightforward, but in 2025, they represent a growing threat: deepfake scams that can be created for just $5 in under 10 minutes. According to McAfee’s latest “State of the Scamiverse” report, deepfake scams have become an everyday reality. The average American now encounters 2.6 deepfake videos daily, with younger adults (18-24) seeing even more – about 3.5 per day. These aren’t just celebrity face-swaps or entertaining memes; they’re sophisticated scams designed to separate people from their money.
Welcome to the Scamiverse: an ever-expanding realm of online scams and fraud that’s targeting people everywhere. Despite increasing awareness, scams are on the rise globally, costing victims money, time, and emotional well-being. Understanding this evolving landscape is key to staying protected.
According to McAfee’s December 2024 survey of 5,000 adults:
Beyond financial losses, there’s a significant emotional toll. More than a third of victims reported moderate to significant distress after falling for an online scam, with many spending over a month trying to resolve the resulting issues. Deepfake scams surged tenfold in 2024, with North America experiencing a jaw-dropping 1,740% increase. Over 500,000 deepfakes circulated on social media in 2023 alone. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of people report being more worried about scams than ever before.
Deepfakes are no longer futuristic tech—they’re an everyday reality. McAfee’s survey showed:
Deepfake videos are most commonly encountered on:
| Platform | % Reporting Deepfakes |
| 68% | |
| 30% | |
| TikTok | 28% |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 17% |
Interestingly, different age groups tend to encounter deepfakes on different platforms. While older Americans are more likely to see them on Facebook (over 80% of those 65+ report this), younger users more frequently encounter them on Instagram and TikTok. Younger Americans encounter more deepfakes (3.5 daily for ages 18-24) than older groups (1.2 for ages 65+), while seniors report higher exposure to deepfakes on Facebook.
Deepfakes leverage generative AI to create convincing fake videos and audio. Initially popularized through memes featuring celebrities like Tom Cruise and Mark Zuckerberg, deepfakes are now weaponized by scammers. These tools can:
McAfee Labs tested 17 deepfake creation tools, finding that scammers can:
These tools enable scammers to achieve professional-grade results with minimal effort, making deepfake scams increasingly accessible.
The McAfee survey highlighted a wide range of scams. Some frequently involve deepfakes, such as:
| Scam Type | % Reporting |
| Fake shipping notifications | 36% |
| Fake news videos | 21% |
| Celebrity endorsement scams | 18% |
With deepfake technology becoming more accessible and sophisticated, here are McAfee’s top tips to protect yourself:
As we move further into 2025, the threat of deepfake scams is likely to grow. While about half of Americans feel confident they can spot these scams, the technology is evolving rapidly. The best defense is staying informed, maintaining healthy skepticism, and using modern security tools designed to combat these AI-powered threats. Scams have evolved with AI, but so have defenses. Staying vigilant, leveraging advanced cybersecurity tools, and educating yourself can help you navigate the Scamiverse safely. As scammers grow smarter, so must we. Remember, if something seems off about a video call or message from a loved one or colleague, take a moment to verify through another channel. In the age of $5 deepfakes, that extra step could save you thousands of dollars and countless hours of stress.
The post State of the Scamiverse – How AI is Revolutionizing Online Fraud appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Brushing scams are a type of online fraud where sellers send unsolicited packages to individuals, even though they never made an order. These deceptive tactics are often used on popular e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress. The goal of scammers is to artificially inflate product rankings and create fake reviews, ultimately boosting their sales and visibility. Read on to understand how brushing scams work and what steps you can take to stay safe.
A brushing scam is a fraudulent practice in which sellers send packages to people without their knowledge or consent. These items are typically cheap and low-quality, such as inexpensive jewelry or random gadgets, and are sent to fake addresses or addresses obtained illegally. Once the item is delivered, the fraudster writes a fake review praising the product, which helps the seller’s rating rise.
The term “brushing” originates from Chinese e-commerce, where the act of “brushing up” sales numbers involves creating fake orders and sending goods to random individuals. This practice boosts a product’s perceived popularity, tricking other buyers into thinking the product is highly rated, thus increasing its sales.
Here’s how a brushing scam typically unfolds:
These scammers often send products like costume jewelry, seeds, or inexpensive gadgets to inflate their reviews and rankings. If you find an unsolicited package at your door, there’s a high chance it’s part of a brushing scam.
Personal Data Exposure:
Receiving unsolicited parcels may indicate that your personal information has been compromised. Scammers typically access names and addresses through data breaches or purchase this information from illegal sources. In some cases, they may possess additional sensitive details, opening the door to identity theft.
Account Suspension:
If a fraudster uses your name to write fake reviews, your e-commerce account could be flagged or suspended by the platform while the issue is investigated.
Misleading Consumers:
Fake reviews can mislead you into purchasing low-quality products, especially when inflated ratings and positive comments are posted en masse.
Safety Hazards:
Some items involved in brushing scams, such as cosmetics, could be harmful. Other items, like flower seeds, may pose biosecurity risks or introduce invasive species to your local ecosystem.
If you’ve received an unexpected package and suspect it’s part of a brushing scam, report it to the online marketplace involved. Platforms typically provide a form for users to submit reports on fraudulent packages. Here’s how to handle it:
You can also report the incident to your local consumer protection agency or, in the case of U.S. residents, to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
If the scam occurs on Amazon, follow these steps:
It’s important not to consume or use the product, especially if its quality is questionable or if it’s an item like cosmetics or food. Update your passwords for Amazon and any linked accounts and monitor your financial statements for suspicious activity.
Here are some steps to prevent falling victim to brushing scams:
If you receive unexpected items from China or other overseas locations, it could be a sign of a brushing scam, especially if the items appear low-quality or irrelevant.
If you receive a package you didn’t order via USPS:
Brushing scams are a growing concern, but by staying vigilant and taking appropriate steps, you can protect your personal information and avoid falling prey to these deceptive tactics. Always report suspicious packages and reviews, and be cautious when interacting with unfamiliar sellers.
The post How to Protect Yourself from a Brushing Scam appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Winter travel is filled with excitement—whether you’re heading to a snow-covered ski resort, visiting family for the holidays, or enjoying a cozy retreat in a picturesque town. According to Tripadvisor’s Winter Travel Index, 57% of Americans are gearing up for winter travel this year, with a staggering 96% planning to travel as much or more than they did last winter. Yet, with this seasonal joy comes a hidden danger: public Wi-Fi. Airports, hotels, coffee shops, and even ski lodges offer free Wi-Fi, making it easy to stay connected while on the go. But while these networks are convenient, they can also be risky.
Common threats include Man-in-the-Middle attacks, where hackers intercept data exchanged between your device and the Wi-Fi network, and rogue hotspots, where cybercriminals set up fake Wi-Fi networks with names that mimic legitimate ones, tricking users into connecting.
Despite these risks, many travelers still connect to public Wi-Fi without taking the necessary precautions. But with a few simple steps, you can significantly reduce your exposure while traveling this winter.
The most effective way to protect your data on public Wi-Fi is by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN encrypts your internet connection, making it virtually impossible for hackers to intercept your data. It creates a secure tunnel between your device and the internet, ensuring that your online activity remains private.
By encrypting your data, a VPN ensures that any information transmitted over the network is unreadable to anyone attempting to intercept it, such as hackers or cybercriminals. It also masks your IP address, adding a layer of anonymity that makes it difficult for snoopers to trace your online movements or identify your location.
Even with a VPN, it’s wise to avoid performing sensitive transactions on public Wi-Fi networks. For activities like online banking, shopping with credit cards, or accessing sensitive work documents, it’s best to reserve those tasks for secure, private networks. Taking a few extra precautions can further reduce your risk of data theft.
Not all Wi-Fi networks are created equal. Some are outright traps set by hackers to lure unsuspecting users. Always verify the official network name with a staff member before connecting, especially in places like airports, hotels, or cafes. Knowing how to identify suspicious networks can save you from connecting to a rogue hotspot.
Protecting your data on public Wi-Fi isn’t just about the network—it’s also about securing your devices. Cybercriminals can exploit vulnerabilities in your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to gain access to your personal information.
Public Wi-Fi can be a lifesaver when you’re traveling, but it doesn’t have to be a risk. By following these simple tips—using a VPN, avoiding sensitive transactions, and securing your devices—you can enjoy your winter adventures without compromising your personal data. So, whether you’re sipping hot cocoa in a ski lodge or waiting for a flight home, stay connected, stay secure, and make the most of your winter travels.
The post How to Protect Your Data While On-the-Go appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Winter Travel Wi-Fi Safety: How to Protect Your Data While On-the-Go
Winter travel is filled with excitement—whether you’re heading to a snow-covered ski resort, visiting family for the holidays, or enjoying a cozy retreat in a picturesque town. According to Tripadvisor’s Winter Travel Index, 57% of Americans are gearing up for winter travel this year, with a staggering 96% planning to travel as much or more than they did last winter. Yet, with this seasonal joy comes a hidden danger: public Wi-Fi. Airports, hotels, coffee shops, and even ski lodges offer free Wi-Fi, making it easy to stay connected while on the go. But while these networks are convenient, they can also be risky.
Public Wi-Fi networks are notorious for their lack of security. Unlike your home network, which is likely password-protected and encrypted, many public networks are open and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Hackers can intercept your data, monitor your online activity, and even steal sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, and personal identification.
Common threats include Man-in-the-Middle attacks, where hackers intercept data exchanged between your device and the Wi-Fi network, and rogue hotspots, where cybercriminals set up fake Wi-Fi networks with names that mimic legitimate ones, tricking users into connecting.
Despite these risks, many travelers still connect to public Wi-Fi without taking the necessary precautions. But with a few simple steps, you can significantly reduce your exposure while traveling this winter.
1. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN): Your Best Defense
The most effective way to protect your data on public Wi-Fi is by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN encrypts your internet connection, making it virtually impossible for hackers to intercept your data. It creates a secure tunnel between your device and the internet, ensuring that your online activity remains private.
By encrypting your data, a VPN ensures that any information transmitted over the network is unreadable to anyone attempting to intercept it, such as hackers or cybercriminals. It also masks your IP address, adding a layer of anonymity that makes it difficult for snoopers to trace your online movements or identify your location.
2. Avoid Sensitive Transactions on Public Wi-Fi
Even with a VPN, it’s wise to avoid performing sensitive transactions on public Wi-Fi networks. For activities like online banking, shopping with credit cards, or accessing sensitive work documents, it’s best to reserve those tasks for secure, private networks. Taking a few extra precautions can further reduce your risk of data theft.
Safer Alternatives:
3. Spot Suspicious Wi-Fi Networks
Not all Wi-Fi networks are created equal. Some are outright traps set by hackers to lure unsuspecting users. Always verify the official network name with a staff member before connecting, especially in places like airports, hotels, or cafes. Knowing how to identify suspicious networks can save you from connecting to a rogue hotspot.
Red Flags to Watch For:
4. Keep Your Devices Secure
Protecting your data on public Wi-Fi isn’t just about the network—it’s also about securing your devices. Cybercriminals can exploit vulnerabilities in your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to gain access to your personal information.
Device Security Tips:
Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Winter Travels
Public Wi-Fi can be a lifesaver when you’re traveling, but it doesn’t have to be a risk. By following these simple tips—using a VPN, avoiding sensitive transactions, and securing your devices—you can enjoy your winter adventures without compromising your personal data. So, whether you’re sipping hot cocoa in a ski lodge or waiting for a flight home, stay connected, stay secure, and make the most of your winter travels.
The post Winter Travel Wi-Fi Safety: How to Protect Your Data While On-the-Go appeared first on McAfee Blog.
McAfee threat researchers have identified several consumer brands and product categories most frequently used by cybercriminals to trick consumers into clicking on malicious links in the first weeks of this holiday shopping season. As holiday excitement peaks and shoppers hunt for the perfect gifts and amazing deals, scammers are taking advantage of the buzz. The National Retail Federation projects holiday spending will reach between $979.5 and $989 billion this year, and cybercriminals are capitalizing by creating scams that mimic the trusted brands and categories consumers trust. From October 1 to November 12, 2024, McAfee safeguarded its customers from 624,346 malicious or suspicious URLs tied to popular consumer brand names – a clear indication that bad actors are exploiting trusted brand names to deceive holiday shoppers.
McAfee’s threat research also reveals a 33.82% spike in malicious URLs targeting consumers with these brands’ names in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This rise in fraudulent activity aligns with holiday shopping patterns during a time when consumers may be more susceptible to clicking on offers from well-known brands like Apple, Yeezy, and Louis Vuitton, especially when deals seem too good to be true – pointing to the need for consumers to stay vigilant, especially with offers that seem unusually generous or come from unverified sources.
McAfee threat researchers have identified a surge in counterfeit sites and phishing scams that use popular luxury brands and tech products to lure consumers into “deals” on fake e-commerce sites designed to appear as official brand pages. While footwear and handbags were identified as the top two product categories exploited by cybercrooks during this festive time, the list of most exploited brands extends beyond those borders:
By mimicking trusted brands like these, offering unbelievable deals, or posing as legitimate customer service channels, cybercrooks create convincing traps designed to steal personal information or money. Here are some of the most common tactics scammers are using this holiday season:
With holiday shopping in full swing, it’s essential for consumers to stay one step ahead of scammers. By understanding the tactics cybercriminals use and taking a few precautionary measures, shoppers can protect themselves from falling victim to fraud. Here are some practical tips for safe shopping this season:
McAfee’s threat research team analyzed malicious or suspicious URLs that McAfee’s web reputation technology identified as targeting customers, by using a list of key company and product brand names—based on insights from a Potter Clarkson report on frequently faked brands—to query the URLs. This methodology captures instances where users either clicked on or were directed to dangerous sites mimicking trusted brands. Additionally, the team queried anonymized user activity from October 1st through November 12th.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: Yeezy is a popular product brand formerly from Adidas found in multiple Malicious/Suspicious URLs. Often, they present themselves as official Yeezy and/or Adidas shopping sites.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: The Apple brand was a popular target for scammers. Many sites were either knock offs, scams, or in this case, a fake customer service page designed to lure users into a scam.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: This particular (fake) Apple sales site used Apple within its URL and name to appear more official. Oddly, this site also sells Samsung Android phones.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: This site, now taken down, is a scam site purporting to sell Nike shoes.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: Louis Vuitton is a popular brand for counterfeit and scams. Particularly their handbags. Here is one site that was entirely focused on Louis Vuitton Handbags.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: This site presents itself as the official Louis Vuitton site selling handbags and clothes.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: This site uses too-good-to-be-true deals on branded items including this Louis Vuitton Bomber jacket.
The image below is a screenshot of a fake / malicious / scam site: Rolex is a popular watch brand for counterfeits and scams. This site acknowledges it sells counterfeits and makes no effort to indicate this on the product.
The post This Holiday Season, Watch Out for These Cyber-Grinch Tricks Used to Scam Holiday Shoppers appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Two-step verification, two-factor authentication, multi-factor authentication…whatever your social media platform calls it, it’s an excellent way to protect your accounts.
There’s a good chance you’re already using multi-factor verification with your other accounts — for your bank, your finances, your credit card, and any number of things. The way it requires an extra one-time code in addition to your login and password makes life far tougher for hackers.
It’s increasingly common to see nowadays, where all manner of online services only allow access to your accounts after you’ve provided a one-time passcode sent to your email or smartphone. That’s where two-step verification comes in. You get sent a code as part of your usual login process (usually a six-digit number), and then you enter that along with your username and password.
Some online services also offer the option to use an authenticator app, which sends the code to a secure app rather than via email or your smartphone. Authenticator apps work much in the same way, yet they offer three unique features:
Google, Microsoft, and others offer authenticator apps if you want to go that route. You can get a good list of options by checking out the “editor’s picks” at your app store or in trusted tech publications.
Whichever form of authentication you use, always keep that secure code to yourself. It’s yours and yours alone. Anyone who asks for that code, say someone masquerading as a customer service rep, is trying to scam you. With that code, and your username/password combo, they can get into your account.
Passwords and two-step verification work hand-in-hand to keep you safer. Yet not any old password will do. You’ll want a strong, unique password. Here’s how that breaks down:
Now, with strong passwords in place, you can get to setting up multi-factor verification on your social media accounts.
When you set up two-factor authentication on Facebook, you’ll be asked to choose one of three security methods:
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823
When you set up two-factor authentication on Instagram, you’ll be asked to choose one of three security methods: an authentication app, text message, or WhatsApp.
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://faq.whatsapp.com/1920866721452534
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185839?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
1. TapProfileat the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top.
3. Tap Settings and Privacy, then Security.
4. Tap 2-step verification and choose at least two verification methods: SMS (text), email, and authenticator app.
5. Tap Turn on to confirm.
And here’s a link to the company’s full walkthrough: https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/personalized-ads-and-data/how-your-phone-number-is-used-on-tiktok
The post How to Protect Your Social Media Passwords with Multi-factor Verification appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s been a big year for big data breaches. Billions of records on millions of people have been exposed at an estimated cost of nearly $10 trillion dollars to people and businesses alike worldwide.[i]
While we still have a few weeks in the year left to go, here’s a roundup of five of the most noteworthy breaches this year. And while you can’t prevent big data breaches from happening, you can still take several preventive steps to protect yourself from the fallout. We’ll cover them here too.
News of a major data breach that involved nearly three billion records came to light over the summer from a somewhat unusual source — a class-action complaint filed in Florida.
The complaint concerned National Public Data (NPD), a company that provides background checks. Per their website, “[NPD obtains] information from various public record databases, court records, state and national databases, and other repositories nationwide.”
The complaint alleged that NPD was hit by a data breach in or around April 2024. [ii] The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court further alleges:
Typically, companies self-report these breaches, thanks to regulations and legislation that require them to do so in a timely manner. That way, initial word of breaches reaches customers through emails, news reports, and sometimes through notifications to certain state attorney generals.
In this case, it appeared that no notices were immediately sent to potential victims.
As to how the primary plaintiff discovered the breach, he “received a notification from his identity theft protection service provider notifying him that his [personal info] was compromised as a direct result of the ‘nationalpublicdata.com’ breach …” (And you can certainly add online protection software to the list of ways you can find out about a data breach before a company notifies you.)
Further, in June, The Register reported that a hacker group by the name of USDoD claimed it hacked the records of 2.9 billion people and put them up for sale on the dark web.[iii] The price tag, U.S. $3.5 million. The group further claimed that the records include U.S., Canadian, and British citizens.
Just how big was the Ticketmaster data breach? It appears that over a half-billion people might have had their personal info compromised.
Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, first announced the breach in late May. The company said that it had identified “unauthorized activity” from April 2 to May 18, 2024.
Soon after, the noted hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach.[iv] According to the hackers, their 1.3 terabyte haul of data includes 560 million people — along with a mix of their names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, order information, and partial payment card details. They allegedly posted that info for sale on the dark web in late May.[v]
Live Nation then began notifying potential victims by physical mail, stating:
“The personal information that may have been obtained by the third party may have included your name, basic contact information, and <extra>.”
Per a support document posted by Ticketmaster, the <extra> part varied by individual. Depending on what was compromised, that might have included “email, phone number, encrypted credit card information as well as some other personal information provided to [Ticketmaster].”[vi]
Also affecting millions of people in 2024, a breach at Infosys McCamish Systems (IMS), a company that provides solutions and services to insurance companies and financial institutions. Per an announcement from IMS[vii], the company,
“[D]etermined that unauthorized activity occurred between October 29, 2023, and November 2, 2023. Through the investigation, it was also determined that data was subject to unauthorized access and acquisition.”
There’s a good chance you haven’t heard of IMS before reading this article. Yet to put the attack in perspective, it affected people who hold accounts with companies like Bank of America, Oceanview Life and Annuity Company, Fidelity Investments Life Insurance, Newport Group, and Union Labor Life Insurance.
Also per IMS, the full run of personal info swept up in the attack included:
| · Social Security Numbers
· Dates of birth · Medical records · Biometric data · Email address and passwords · Usernames and passwords |
· Driver’s license and state ID numbers
· Financial account info · Payment card info · Passport numbers · Tribal ID numbers · US military ID numbers |
Notifications went out to potential victims in several ways and at several times. Bank of America sent notices to 50,000 people in February, alerting them that their info was compromised by an unidentified third party.[viii] Fidelity Investments Life Insurance notified 28,000 potential victims in March.[ix] In late June, IMS began contacting the six million potential victims overall — eight months after the date of the initial attack.[x]
The second breach involves (FBCS), a bonded collection agency based on the U.S. east coast. On February 26, 2024, the company noted unauthorized access to their systems, which covered a twelve-day period starting on February 14.[xi] In an April notice of a “data event,” FBCS stated that people might have had the following info compromised:
“[C]onsumer name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, other state identification number, medical claims information, provider information, and clinical information (including diagnosis/conditions, medications, and other treatment information), and/or health insurance information.”
FBCS went on to say that the compromised info varied from person to person.
Initially, the scope of the breach appeared to approach two million victims.[xii] Several updated filings continued to increase that number. At last reporting, the figure had ballooned to more than four million people affected.[xiii]
In April, mobile carrier AT&T learned that hackers had stolen the call and text logs of nearly all its customers, estimated at nearly 100 million people. That further included customers who used Cricket, Boost Mobile, and Consumer Cellular, which are mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that use AT&T’s network.
The compromised data covered a period between May 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, with a small number of records from January 2, 2023, also affected. According to AT&T, hackers gained access through a third-party cloud platform account.[xiv]
The stolen data revealed the phone numbers customers communicated with, along with the frequency and total duration of calls and texts for specific periods. In this way, the breach affected more than just customers of AT&T — it affected anyone who may have called or texted with an AT&T customer.
However, AT&T assured customers that the content of calls or texts, timestamps, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personal details were not compromised.
Of concern, a determined hacker with access to the data could infer a lot from these logs, such as businesses and people customers regularly speak with. In turn, this could fuel phishing scams by giving them extra credibility if the scammer poses as the businesses and people involved.
These breaches show the risks and frustrations that we, as consumers, face in the wake of such attacks. It often takes months before we receive any kind of notification. And of course, that gap gives hackers plenty of time to do their damage. They might use stolen info to commit identity crimes, or they might sell it to others who’ll do the same. Sometimes, we’re in the dark about a data breach until we get hit with a case of identity theft ourselves.
Indeed, plenty of breaches go unreported or under-reported. Even so, word of an attack that affects you might take some time to reach you. With that, preventative measures offer the strongest protection from data breaches.
To fully cover yourself, we suggest the following:
Check your credit, consider a security freeze, and get ID theft protection.
With your personal info potentially on the dark web, strongly consider taking preventive measures now. Checking your credit and getting identity theft protection can help keep you safer in the aftermath of a breach. Further, a security freeze can help prevent identity theft if you spot any unusual activity. You can get all three in place with our McAfee+ Advanced or Ultimate plans. Features include:
Monitor your identity and transactions.
Breaches and leaks can lead to exposure, particularly on dark web marketplaces where personal info gets bought and sold. Our Identity Monitoring can help notify you quickly if that happens. It keeps tabs on everything from email addresses to IDs and phone numbers for signs of breaches. If spotted, it offers advice that can help secure your accounts before they’re used for identity theft.
Also in our McAfee+ plans, you’ll find several types of transaction monitoring that can spot unusual activity. These features track transactions on credit cards and bank accounts — along with retirement accounts, investments, and loans for questionable transactions. Finally, further features can help prevent a bank account takeover and keep others from taking out short-term payday loans in your name.
Keep an eye out for phishing attacks.
With some personal info in hand, bad actors might seek out more. They might follow up a breach with rounds of phishing attacks that direct you to bogus sites designed to steal your personal info — either by tricking you into providing it or by stealing it without your knowledge. So look out for phishing attacks, particularly after breaches.
If you are contacted by a company, make certain the communication is legitimate. Bad actors might pose as them to steal personal info. Don’t click or tap on links sent in emails, texts, or messages. Instead, go straight to the appropriate website or contact them by phone directly.
For even more security, you can use our Text Scam Detector. It scans links in texts and lets you know if it’s risky. And if you accidentally click or tap a bad link, it blocks the sketchy sites they can take you to.
Update your passwords and use two-factor authentication.
Changing your password is a strong preventive measure. Strong and unique passwords are best, which means never reusing your passwords across different sites and platforms. Using a password manager helps you keep on top of it all, while also storing your passwords securely.
While a strong and unique password is a good first line of defense, enabling two-factor authentication across your accounts helps your cause by providing an added layer of security. It’s increasingly common to see nowadays, where banks and all manner of online services will only allow access to your accounts after you’ve provided a one-time passcode sent to your email or smartphone.
[i] https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1280009/cost-cybercrime-worldwide
[ii]https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/HofmannvJericoPicturesIncDocketNo024cv61383SDFlaAug012024CourtDoc?doc_id=X6S27DVM6H69DSQO6MTRAQRIVBS
[iii] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/03/usdod_data_dump/
[iv] https://www.pcmag.com/news/ticketmaster-confirms-user-email-addresses-phone-numbers-stolen-in-hack
[v] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1335258/000133525824000081/lyv-20240520.htm
[vi] https://help.ticketmaster.com/hc/en-us/articles/26110487861137-Ticketmaster-Data-Security-Incident
[vii] https://www.infosysbpm.com/mccamish/about/notice-of-cybersecurity-incident.html
[viii] https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/bank-america-responds-to-breach-a-4487
[ix] https://www.securityweek.com/fidelity-investments-notifying-28000-people-of-data-breach/
[x] https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/b152fd39-9f84-4ca5-a149-d20b94ed8ef6.html
[xi] https://www.fbcs-inc.com/cyber-incident/
[xii] https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/5fe1ede5-aafd-4da2-b1a4-0057a6cdadc6.shtml
[xiii] https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/7e6ff931-a035-480f-a977-e11a8af7f768.html
[xiv] https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-illegal-download.html
The post 2024 Data Breaches Wrapped appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The holiday season often brings a rush of new gadgets—smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart home devices—into households. One survey revealed that nearly 199 million U.S. adults planned to purchase tech products and services as gifts for the holiday season. For the tech-savvy among us, it also means becoming the go-to person for setting up, troubleshooting, and securing those shiny new devices. But while it’s great to help your loved ones get the most out of their tech, it’s just as important to ensure they’re protected from digital threats like malware, phishing, and privacy breaches.
This year, step up as the digital IT hero of the holidays by taking proactive measures to safeguard your family’s online life. Here’s a guide to help you create a safer digital environment for your loved ones by setting up their devices with robust cybersecurity protections.
One of the first steps in protecting new devices is ensuring that internet connections are secure. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is essential for safeguarding your family’s data, especially when using public Wi-Fi networks at coffee shops, airports, or hotels. Without a VPN, any data you send or receive—such as login details, personal information, or banking credentials—can be intercepted by cybercriminals using simple hacking tools. A VPN encrypts your internet connection, making it much harder for anyone to spy on or steal your information, even on public networks. This layer of security is crucial to protect your privacy and keep your data safe from potential threats.
How to help:
Antivirus software plays a crucial role in protecting devices from malware, ransomware, and other cyber threats by continuously scanning for malicious activity and preventing harmful files from executing. It acts as a first line of defense, detecting and removing viruses before they can compromise your system or steal sensitive data.
How to help:
Passwords are the first and often most critical line of defense for online accounts, but unfortunately, many people still rely on weak or predictable combinations like “password123” or simple sequences of numbers. These easy-to-guess passwords leave accounts vulnerable to cybercriminals who use automated tools to crack them within minutes.
However, the threat doesn’t stop at weak passwords—data breaches pose an even greater risk. When large-scale breaches occur, they often expose millions of usernames and passwords to the public. Even strong, unique passwords can be compromised if they’ve been leaked in a breach, allowing attackers to use those credentials in credential-stuffing attacks, where they attempt to log in to multiple accounts using the same exposed password.
To counteract this, it’s critical to not only set strong, unique passwords for every account but also to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) so that even if your password falls into the wrong hands, attackers can’t access your account without a second form of verification.
How to help:
Data loss can be catastrophic, whether it’s due to a hardware failure, theft, or ransomware attack. Setting up automatic backups ensures that your family’s important data—such as photos, videos, and documents—is safe, no matter what happens.
How to help:
New devices often come pre-loaded with a myriad of apps, many of which your family members may never use. Some of these could be bloatware or even pose security risks by running in the background and collecting data.
How to help:
By helping your family with these key cybersecurity steps, you’re not just setting up their devices—you’re providing them with the tools and knowledge to stay safe online. As the digital IT hero of the holidays, you’ll empower your loved ones to enjoy their new tech with confidence, knowing their data and privacy are protected.
The post How to Be Your Family’s Digital IT Hero for the Holidays appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As 89% of Americans plan to shop online during this holiday shopping season, many say they’re more concerned about being scammed online than they were last year. One big reason why—AI deepfakes.
Our 2024 Global Holiday Shopping Scams Study uncovered that 70% of American shoppers say AI-driven scams are changing the way they shop online.
In all, they think scam emails and messages will be more believable than ever and that it’ll be harder to tell what’s a real message from a retailer or delivery service. With that in mind, 58% of people say they’ll be more alert than ever to when it comes to fake messages. Another 11% said they’ll do less online shopping because of how AI is helping cybercriminals.
Overall, people say their confidence in spotting online scams is low, particularly when it comes to scams featuring AI-created content. Only 59% of Americans feel confident they can identify deepfakes or AI-generated content.
The effectiveness of deepfake shopping scams has been shown already, 1 in 5 Americans (21%) said they unknowingly paid for fake products endorsed by deepfake celebrities. For Gen Z and Millennials, that number leaps yet higher, with 1 in 3 people aged 18-34 falling victim to a deepfake scam. Meanwhile, older Americans have avoided these scams, with only 5% of shoppers aged 55 and up saying that they’ve fallen victim to one.
Additionally, 1 in 5 Americans (20%) say they or someone they know has fallen victim to a deepfake shopping scam, celebrity-based or otherwise. 70% of those people lost money to the deepfake holiday scam. Of those who lost money:
Across our research, three big findings stood out. The volume of scam messages is only increasing, chasing deals could lead to scams, and shopping on social media has risks of its own.
64% of Americans say they receive most of their scam messages via email, 20% encounter them primarily via text, and 16% find them on social media. These messages fall into several categories:
As the holiday season warms up, 84% of Americans say they’re on the hunt for the best holiday deals. But the rush for discounts could put them at risk. Scammers notoriously underprice hot items to lure in victims.
More than 100 million Americans shop on social media.i While social shopping offers convenience, it also exposes people to new risks, especially as scammers use these platforms to reach victims. We found that shoppers are increasingly turning to social channels, often in significant ways.
This is a great one to start with. Directly typing in the correct address for online stores and retailers is a prime way to avoid scammers online. In the case of retailers that you don’t know much about, the U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB) asks shoppers to do their research and make sure that retailer has a good reputation. The BBB makes that easier with a listing of retailers you can search simply by typing in their name.
In the U.S., the Fair Credit Billing Act offers the public protection against fraudulent charges on credit cards. Citizens can dispute charges of over $50 for goods and services that were never delivered or otherwise billed incorrectly. (Note that many credit card companies have their own policies that improve upon the Fair Credit Billing Act as well.) However, debit cards don’t get the same protection under the Act. Avoid using a debit card while shopping online and use your credit card instead.
Scammers have to get your contact info from somewhere. Often, they get it from online data brokers and other “people finder” sites. These sites collect and sell massive amounts of personal info to any buyer. You can remove that info from some of the riskiest data brokers with our Personal Data Cleanup service. It can help you remove that info, and with select products it can even manage the removal for you. Likewise, set your social media accounts to “friends and family” only so that your profile info doesn’t show up in search results.
Phishing emails, texts, and sites lure people into clicking links that might lead to malware or handing over their personal info. And they look more believable than ever. If you receive an email or text message asking you to click on a link, it’s best to avoid interacting with the message altogether. Even if it’s a great-sounding deal or indicates it’ll provide useful info such as a parcel delivery update. Always go direct to the source and interact with reputable companies.
Yet better, you can use the combo of our Scam Protection and Web Protection found in our McAfee+ plans. Powered by our AI technology, they detect sketchy links and keep you from clicking on them by mistake.
Many scams are effective because the scammer creates a false sense of urgency or preys on a heightened emotional state. Pause before you rush to interact with any message that is threatening or urgent, especially if it is from an unknown or unlikely sender. The same very much applies for deals and sales online. Scammers will pop up bogus online ads and stores for sought-after gifts, of course with no intention of shipping you anything. Look out for offers that seem priced too low and hard-to-find items that are miraculously in stock at an online store you’ve never heard of. Stick with reputable retailers instead.
Survey methodology
The survey, which focused on the topic of deepfakes, scam messages, and holiday shopping, was conducted online in November 2024. 7,128 adults, age 18+, In 7 countries (US, Australia, India, UK, France, Germany, Japan), participated in the study.
The post How AI Deepfakes and Scams Are Changing the Way We Shop Online appeared first on McAfee Blog.
What is a botnet? And what does it have to do with a toaster?
We’ll get to that. First, a definition:
A botnet is a group of internet-connected devices that bad actors hijack with malware. Using remote controls, bad actors can harness the power of the network to perform several types of attacks. These include distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that shut down internet services, breaking into other networks to steal data, and sending massive volumes of spam.
In a way, the metaphor of an “army of devices” leveling a cyberattack works well. With thousands or even millions of compromised devices working in concert, bad actors can do plenty of harm. As we’ll see in a moment, they’ve done their share already.
Which brings us back to that toaster.
The pop-up toaster as we know it first hit the shelves in 1926, under the brand name “Toastmaster.”[i] With a familiar springy *pop*, it has ejected toast just the way we like it for nearly a century. Given that its design was so simple and effective, it’s remained largely unchanged. Until now. Thanks to the internet and so-called “smart home” devices.
Toasters, among other things, are all getting connected. And have been for a few years now, to the point where the number of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices reaches well into the billions worldwide — which includes smart home devices.[ii]
Businesses use IoT devices to track shipments and various aspects of their supply chain. Cities use them to manage traffic flow and monitor energy use. (Does your home have a smart electric meter?) And for people like us, we use them to play music on smart speakers, see who’s at the front door with smart doorbells, and order groceries from an LCD screen on our smart refrigerators — just to name a few ways we’ve welcomed smart home devices into our households.
In the U.S. alone, smart home devices make up a $30-plus billion marketplace per year.[iii] However, it’s still a relatively young marketplace. And with that comes several security issues.
First and foremost, many of these devices still lack sophisticated security measures, which makes them easy pickings for cybercriminals. Why would a cybercriminal target that smart lightbulb in your living room reading lamp? Networks are only as secure as their least secure device. Thus, if a cybercriminal can compromise that smart lightbulb, it can potentially give them access to the entire home network it is on — along with all the other devices and data on it.
More commonly, though, hackers target smart home devices for another reason. They conscript them into botnets. It’s a highly automated affair. Hackers use bots to add devices to their networks. They scan the internet in search of vulnerable devices and use brute-force password attacks to take control of them.
At issue: many of these devices ship with factory usernames and passwords. Fed with that info, a hacker’s bot can have a relatively good success rate because people often leave the factory password unchanged. It’s an easy in.
Results from one real-life test show just how active these hacker bots are:
We created a fake smart home and set up a range of real consumer devices, from televisions to thermostats to smart security systems and even a smart kettle – and hooked it up to the internet.
What happened next was a deluge of attempts by cybercriminals and other unknown actors to break into our devices, at one stage, reaching 14 hacking attempts every single hour.
Put another way, that hourly rate added up to more than 12,000 unique scans and attack attempts a week.[iv] Imagine all that activity pinging your smart home devices.
Now, with a botnet in place, hackers can wage the kinds of attacks we mentioned above, particularly DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks can shut down websites, disrupt service and even choke traffic across broad swathes of the internet.
Remember the “Mirai” botnet attack of 2016, where hackers targeted a major provider of internet infrastructure?[v] It ended up crippling traffic in concentrated areas across the U.S., including the northeast, Great Lakes, south-central, and western regions. Millions of internet users were affected, people, businesses, and government workers alike.
Another more recent set of headline-makers are the December 2023 and July 2024 attacks on Amazon Web Services (AWS).[vi],[vii] AWS provides cloud computing services to millions of businesses and organizations, large and small. Those customers saw slowdowns and disruptions for three days, which in turn slowed down and disrupted the people and services that wanted to connect with them.
Also in July 2024, Microsoft likewise fell victim to a DDoS attack. It affected everything from Outlook email to Azure web services, and Microsoft Office to online games of Minecraft. They all got swept up in it.[viii]
These attacks stand out as high-profile DDoS attacks, yet smaller botnet attacks abound, ones that don’t make headlines. They can disrupt the operations of websites, public infrastructure, and businesses, not to mention the well-being of people who rely on the internet.
Earlier we mentioned the problem of unchanged factory usernames and passwords. These include everything from “admin123” to the product’s name. Easy to remember, and highly insecure. The practice is so common that they get posted in bulk on hacking websites, making it easy for cybercriminals to simply look up the type of device they want to attack.
Complicating security yet further is the fact that some IoT and smart home device manufacturers introduce flaws in their design, protocols, and code that make them susceptible to attacks.[ix] The thought gets yet more unsettling when you consider that some of the flaws were found in things like smart door locks.
The ease with which IoT devices can be compromised is a big problem. The solution, however, starts with manufacturers that develop IoT devices with security in mind. Everything in these devices will need to be deployed with the ability to accept security updates and embed strong security solutions from the get-go.
Until industry standards get established to ensure such basic security, a portion of securing your IoT and smart home devices falls on us, as people and consumers.
As for security, you can take steps that can help keep you safer. Broadly speaking, they involve two things: protecting your devices and protecting the network they’re on. These security measures will look familiar, as they follow many of the same measures you can take to protect your computers, tablets, and phones.
Grab online protection for your smartphone.
Many smart home devices use a smartphone as a sort of remote control, not to mention as a place for gathering, storing, and sharing data. So whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, use online protection software on your phone to help keep it safe from compromise and attack.
Don’t use the default — Set a strong, unique password.
One issue with many IoT devices is that they often come with a default username and password. This could mean that your device and thousands of others just like it all share the same credentials, which makes it painfully easy for a hacker to gain access to them because those default usernames and passwords are often published online. When you purchase any IoT device, set a fresh password using a strong method of password creation, such as ours. Likewise, create an entirely new username for additional protection as well.
Use multi-factor authentication.
Online banks, shops, and other services commonly offer multi-factor authentication to help protect your accounts — with the typical combination of your username, password, and a security code sent to another device you own (often a mobile phone). If your IoT device supports multi-factor authentication, consider using it there too. It throws a big barrier in the way of hackers who simply try and force their way into your device with a password/username combination.
Secure your internet router too.
Another device that needs good password protection is your internet router. Make sure you use a strong and unique password as well to help prevent hackers from breaking into your home network. Also, consider changing the name of your home network so that it doesn’t personally identify you. Fun alternatives to using your name or address include everything from movie lines like “May the Wi-Fi be with you” to old sitcom references like “Central Perk.” Also check that your router is using an encryption method, like WPA2 or the newer WPA3, which keeps your signal secure.
Upgrade to a newer internet router.
Older routers might have outdated security measures, which might make them more prone to attacks. If you’re renting yours from your internet provider, contact them for an upgrade. If you’re using your own, visit a reputable news or review site such as Consumer Reports for a list of the best routers that combine speed, capacity, and security.
Update your apps and devices regularly.
In addition to fixing the odd bug or adding the occasional new feature, updates often fix security gaps. Out-of-date apps and devices might have flaws that hackers can exploit, so regular updating is a must from a security standpoint. If you can set your smart home apps and devices to receive automatic updates, that’s even better.
Set up a guest network specifically for your IoT devices.
Just as you can offer your guests secure access that’s separate from your own devices, creating an additional network on your router allows you to keep your computers and smartphones separate from IoT devices. This way, if an IoT device is compromised, a hacker will still have difficulty accessing your other devices on your primary network, the one where you connect your computers and smartphones.
Shop smart.
Read trusted reviews and look up the manufacturer’s track record online. Have their devices been compromised in the past? Do they provide regular updates for their devices to ensure ongoing security? What kind of security features do they offer? And privacy features too? Resources like Consumer Reports can provide extensive and unbiased information that can help you make a sound purchasing decision.
As more and more connected devices make their way into our homes, the need to ensure that they’re secure only increases. More devices mean more potential avenues of attack, and your home network is only as secure as the least secure device that’s on it.
While standards put forward by industry groups such as UL and Matter have started to take root, a good portion of keeping IoT and smart home devices secure falls on us as consumers. Taking the steps above can help prevent your connected toaster from playing its part in a botnet army attack — and it can also protect your network and your home from getting hacked.
It’s no surprise that IoT and smart home devices have raked in billions of dollars over the years. They introduce conveniences and little touches into our homes that make life more comfortable and enjoyable. However, they’re still connected devices. And like anything that’s connected, they must be protected.
[i] https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/history-making-toast
[ii] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1183457/iot-connected-devices-worldwide/
[iii] https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/smart-home/united-states
[iv] https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/how-the-smart-home-could-be-at-risk-from-hackers-akeR18s9eBHU
[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirai_(malware)
[vi] https://www.darkreading.com/cloud-security/eight-hour-ddos-attack-struck-aws-customers
[vii] https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilsayegh/2024/07/31/microsoft-and-aws-outages-a-wake-up-call-for-cloud-dependency/
[viii] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c903e793w74o
[ix] https://news.fit.edu/academics-research/apps-for-popular-smart-home-devices-contain-security-flaws-new-research-finds/
The post What Is a Botnet? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As we honor Veterans Day, it’s crucial to recognize not only the sacrifices made by those who served but also the unique cybersecurity challenges they face in today’s digital age. Veterans, with their deep ties to sensitive military information and benefits, are increasingly being targeted by cybercriminals seeking to exploit their personal data. Seven in 10 military vets and active-duty service members have been a victim of at least one digital crime.
From phishing scams impersonating official VA communications to the risk of military identity theft, veterans encounter specific threats that require tailored cybersecurity awareness and precautions. By taking proactive steps, veterans can implement strong security practices to better protect their identities and enjoy a safer online experience.
Veterans possess a wealth of sensitive information tied to their military service. This includes not only Social Security numbers, medical records, and details about deployments and benefits, but also personal histories that can include addresses, family information, and even details about combat experiences. Such comprehensive information is highly valuable to cybercriminals for various malicious activities, including identity theft and financial fraud.
Cybercriminals can exploit this data to impersonate veterans, gain unauthorized access to financial accounts, file false claims for VA benefits, or sell the information on the dark web. The repercussions of such breaches extend beyond financial loss, impacting veterans’ reputations, access to essential services, and overall peace of mind. Safeguarding this sensitive data is critical to ensuring veterans’ security and well-being in the digital age.
One of the primary threats that veterans encounter is phishing scams. These scams often impersonate official communications from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or other military organizations. Cybercriminals use deceptive emails, text messages, or phone calls to trick veterans into revealing personal information or clicking malicious links that can compromise their devices.
Another prevalent danger is military identity theft, where criminals use stolen or fabricated military credentials to access benefits, obtain loans, or commit fraud in the veteran’s name. This type of identity theft can be particularly devastating, affecting not only financial stability but also the veteran’s reputation and access to crucial services.
In 2023, military consumers filed more than 93,000 fraud complaints, with imposter scams alone accounting for 42,766 cases, resulting in reported losses exceeding $178 million. To combat these threats, veterans must be equipped with robust cybersecurity awareness and practices:
If you think you have been the victim of identity theft, immediately take steps to protect yourself and your family:
As veterans continue to navigate the complexities of modern life, safeguarding their personal information online is paramount. By staying informed about cybersecurity best practices and leveraging available resources, veterans can significantly reduce their risk of falling victim to cyber threats.
The post Safeguarding Those Who Served: Cybersecurity Challenges for Veterans appeared first on McAfee Blog.
So, what does your phone know about you? Taken all together it knows plenty — sometimes in ways that feel like your phone is watching you.
It all comes down to the data that courses through your phone and your apps, along with a phone’s built-in tracking capabilities. Indeed, your phone certainly knows plenty about you. And companies keep tabs on that. Here’s how…
The apps on our phones entertain us, inform us, and help us shop. Many of them also track our activities and location — and then sell or share that info with third parties. From there, that info can end up with data brokers who sell that info to anyone who’ll pay. That includes advertisers, spammers, insurance companies, hackers, law enforcement, private investigators, and so on. It’s all legal, and it’s all part of a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide.
Still, you can take charge of your privacy amidst all this data and info gathering. Several steps can reduce what your phone collects and shares with others.
For starters, though, let’s look at several of the things your phone knows about you.
Unless you’ve turned it off completely, your phone can track you in several ways with several degrees of accuracy:
GPS: The Global Positioning System, or GPS as many of us know it, is a system of satellites run by the U.S. government for navigation purposes. First designed for national defense, the system became available for public use in the 1980s. It’s highly accurate, to anywhere between nine to 30 feet depending on conditions and technology used, making it one of the strongest tools for determining a phone’s location. This is what powers location services on cell phones, and thus can help an app recommend a great burger joint nearby.
Cell towers: Cell phone providers can track a phone’s location by the distance it is to various cell phone towers and by the strength of its signal. The location info this method provides is a bit coarser than GPS, providing results that can place a phone within 150 feet. It’s most accurate in urban areas with high densities of cell phone towers, although it does not always work well indoors as some buildings can weaken or block cell phone signals.
One of the most significant public benefits of this method is that it automatically routes emergency service calls (like 911 in the U.S.) to the proper local authorities without any guesswork from the caller.
Public Wi-Fi: Larger tech companies and internet providers will sometimes provide free public Wi-Fi hotspots that people can tap into at airports, restaurants, coffeehouses, and such. It’s a nice convenience, but connecting to their Wi-Fi might share a phone’s MAC address, a unique identifier for connected devices, along with other identifiers on the smartphone.
Taken together, this can allow the Wi-Fi hosting company to gather location and behavioral data while you use your phone on their Wi-Fi network.
Bluetooth: Like with public Wi-Fi, companies can use strategically placed Bluetooth devices to gather location info as well. If Bluetooth is enabled on a phone, it will periodically seek out Bluetooth-enabled devices to connect to while the phone is awake. This way, a Bluetooth receiver can then capture that phone’s unique MAC address. This provides highly exact location info to within just a few feet because of Bluetooth’s short broadcast range.
In the past, we’ve seen retailers use this method to track customers in their physical stores to better understand their shopping habits. However, newer phones often create dummy MAC addresses when they seek out Bluetooth connections, which helps thwart this practice.
Certain apps pair location info with other info they collect while you use that app. In some cases, an app shares that precise combination of info with third parties. (It all depends on the terms in the user agreement you accepted once you installed it.)
What does that look like in the real world? Third parties might know:
Those are just a few examples of many.
Just to emphasize what we said above, not every app sells shares or sells your info to third parties. However, that gets into the complicated nature of user agreements. The language that covers what’s collected, for what reasons, what’s done with it, and who it’s shared can be tough to tease out because it’s often written in some form of legalese.
Broadly though, apps need to request permission to access location tracking services. In the past, we’ve seen some sketchy apps request location permissions even though they have no reason to. Examples include coupon apps, wallpaper apps, productivity apps, and plenty of games too. When apps like those ask for permission to access location tracking services, raises a red flag that your privacy is in jeopardy.
Depending on what apps and services you use, your phone might know a lot about your health. That can include range of info, as apps can track things like step counts, vital signs, and menstrual cycles. Other apps manage health conditions or work as symptom checkers. In all, this data can get very private. Unfortunately, sometimes that data winds up in the hands of third parties.
With that, we’ve seen cases where people’s medical info was shared without their knowledge by medical apps and services.
In April 2024, The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled against an online mental health service that “disclosed consumers’ sensitive personal health information and other sensitive data to third parties for advertising purposes…”[i] Also according to the complaint, the company gave third parties personal data about its users including names, medical and prescription histories, pharmacy and health insurance info, and other health info.
Also in April 2024, U.S. healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente disclosed that more than 13 million people had some of their personal data shared by third parties via tracking technologies on its websites and apps. Companies such as Microsoft (Bing), Google, and X (Twitter) were all named.[ii] That info possibly included how people interacted with and navigated through their website or mobile app, along with search terms used in Kaiser’s health encyclopedia.
So, is someone on the other end of your smartphone listening to your recordings when you use Siri or Google Assistant? Possibly, yes. Companies make constant improvements to their devices and services, which may include the review of commands from users to make sure they are interpreted correctly. There are typically two types of review — machine and human. As the names suggest, a machine review is a digital analysis. Human reviews entail someone listening to and evaluating a recorded command or reading and evaluating a transcript of a written command.
However, several manufacturers let you opt out of those reviews. In fact, you’ll find that they post a fair share of articles about this collection and review process, along with your choices for opting in or out as you wish:
Turn off your phone or switch to Airplane Mode. Disconnect. Without a Wi-Fi or data connection, you can’t get tracked. While this makes you unreachable, it also makes you untraceable, which you might want to consider if you’d rather keep your whereabouts and travels to yourself for periods of time.
Turn off location services altogether. As noted above, your smartphone can get tracked by other means, yet disabling location services in your phone settings shuts down a primary avenue of location data collection. Note that your maps apps won’t offer directions, and your restaurant app won’t point you toward that tasty burger when location services are off, but you’ll be more private than with them turned on.
Provide permissions on an app-by-app basis. Another option is to go into your phone settings and enable location services for specific apps in specific cases. For example, you can set your map app to enable location services only while in use. For other apps, you can disable location services entirely. Yet another option is to have the app ask for permissions each time. Note that this is a great way to discover if apps have defaulted to using location services without your knowledge when you installed them.
On an iPhone, you can find this in Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Location Services. On an Android, go to Settings -> Locations -> App Locations Permissions.
Turn off app tracking. As you’ve seen, some apps will ask to track your activity and potentially share it with data brokers and other third parties. You can halt this by turning off app tracking. On an iPhone, go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Tracking and disable “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” On an Android phone, go to Settings -> Privacy and Security, then turn on “Do Not Track.”
And just as you can with location services, you can set apps to make tracking requests on an app-by-app basis. You’ll see it on the same screen that has the global “Do Not Track” option.
Opt yourself out of cell phone carrier ad programs. Different cell phone carriers have different user agreements, yet some might allow the carrier to share insights about you with third parties based on browsing and usage history. Opting out of these programs might not stop your cell phone carrier from collecting data about you, but it might prevent it from sharing insights about you with others.
To see if you take part in one of these programs, log into your account portal or app. Look for settings around “relevant advertising,” “custom experience,” or even “advertising,” and then figure out if these programs are worth it.
Delete old apps. And be choosy about new ones. Fewer apps mean fewer avenues of potential data collection. If you have old, unused apps, consider deleting them, along with the accounts and data associated with them. Our Online Account Cleanup Online Account Cleanup can make quick work of it. It scans for accounts you no longer use, shows how risky they are, and helps you delete them, along with your personal info. In all, breaches and leaks are a numbers game. The fewer you keep, the better, when it comes to protecting your personal info.
Remove your info from data broker sites. As we’ve seen, the personal info on your smartphone can wind up on data broker sites. And they’ll sell it to practically anyone. Our Personal Data Cleanup can help you remove your personal info from several of the sketchiest brokers out there. Running it periodically can help keep your info off those sites if it crops up again.
[i] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/proposed-ftc-order-will-prohibit-telehealth-firm-cerebral-using-or-disclosing-sensitive-data?utm_source=govdelivery
[ii] https://www.hipaajournal.com/kaiser-permanente-website-tracker-breach-affects-13-4-million-individuals/
The post Every Step You Take, Every Call You Make: Is Your Phone Tracking You? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As Black Friday approaches, eager bargain hunters are gearing up to snag the best deals online. But with the excitement of holiday shopping also comes the risk of cyber threats, as cybercriminals see this busy time as an opportunity to exploit unsuspecting shoppers. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself from potential risks while scoring your favorite holiday deals.
Authorities are already sounding the alarm about the risks associated with online shopping during the festive season. Cybersecurity agencies, including the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Canadian Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), have warned that cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated tactics, including leveraging AI to create more convincing scams, malicious ads, and spoofed websites. In the United States, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued advisories to stay vigilant against ransomware attacks during holiday periods when many businesses operate with minimal staff. Cybercriminals take advantage of widely celebrated holidays like Black Friday to launch impactful attacks.
Modern AI tools have made it easier for scammers to create:
During the bustling shopping period that spans Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, online sales hit record highs, and cybercriminals follow the money trail. Here are some of the most common scams to watch out for and ways to protect yourself.
Phishing attacks often involve fake emails or social media messages that mimic legitimate promotional offers or shipping notifications. These messages are designed to trick you into revealing sensitive information, such as credit card details, or to download malware onto your device. Common tactics include sending fake order confirmations or gift card scams, which pressure recipients to act quickly by purchasing gift cards to resolve a fabricated issue.
Fake websites that imitate popular online retailers pop up frequently during the Black Friday shopping season. These sites may look identical to the real thing, but their sole purpose is to steal your payment information.
Malicious advertisements can infiltrate legitimate websites, leading you to infected sites that install malware on your device. E-skimming occurs when hackers insert malicious code into payment pages on legitimate eCommerce sites, stealing your credit card information during checkout.
During the busy holiday season, identity theft and credit card fraud rise sharply. Cybercriminals use stolen personal information to make fraudulent purchases or open accounts in your name.
Here are some extra tips to keep your online shopping secure during the holiday season:
While Black Friday is a fantastic time to grab deals, it’s also a time to be extra cautious. By understanding common threats and following these safety tips, you can enjoy your holiday shopping while minimizing the risks. Remember, If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Legitimate retailers won’t pressure you into quick decisions or require unusual payment methods. Take your time, verify offers, and trust your instincts.
The best defense against AI scams is a careful, methodical approach to holiday shopping. Create a budget, make a list of what you want to buy, and stick to trusted retailers. A missed deal is better than falling victim to a scam.
The post How To Protect Yourself from Black Friday and Cyber Monday AI Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In today’s fast-paced educational environment, productivity is a key determinant of academic success. Enter AI PCs—computers enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities—that are reshaping how students interact with productivity tools. AI PCs are designed with built-in AI capabilities that optimize performance and user experience by leveraging machine learning algorithms to enhance software applications. This makes routine tasks more efficient and allows for a more personalized user experience.
For students, this means AI tools are becoming not just supplementary resources but integral parts of their academic toolkit. A new report, “The Dawn of the AI Era: Teens, Parents, and the Adoption of Generative AI at Home and School,” found that seven in 10 teenagers say they have used at least one type of generative AI tool, with 40% report using generative AI for school assignments.
From advanced writing assistants to research enhancers, these AI-driven machines have the power to elevate the academic experience. This blog post will explore how AI PCs integrate with AI tools to boost productivity and offer actionable tips to maximize these features for academic success.
ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI, serves as a powerful research assistant, capable of summarizing articles, generating topic ideas, and answering questions on a wide range of subjects. When integrated into an AI PC, ChatGPT can be accessed directly from the desktop or through dedicated applications, providing students with on-demand research support. Several other AI tools can also greatly benefit students in research and writing, such as Google Bard, Jasper, and Copy.ai.
McAfee Tip: Use an AI tool like ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas and outline essays or research papers. For instance, if you’re writing a paper on climate change, ChatGPT can help you outline key points, suggest relevant sources, and even provide a summary of complex scientific articles.
Beyond research, AI tools can assist with writing tasks by generating content, offering suggestions, and even helping with creative projects. Its ability to understand context and generate coherent text means that students can use it for drafting essays, creating reports, or even composing emails.
McAfee Tip: Check with your school policies to ensure you remain compliant with their rules around AI usage. For example, use the tool to generate insights and ideas, but cross-check and cite any specific sources or information included in your work to maintain academic integrity.
Grammarly, an AI-powered writing assistant, is renowned for its grammar and style-checking capabilities. On an AI PC, Grammarly is not just a browser extension but a deeply integrated tool that offers real-time feedback on spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors. This seamless integration ensures that students can produce polished and professional documents with ease.
McAfee Tip: Use Grammarly’s advanced features, such as clarity and engagement suggestions, to help enhance the readability of your work. Before submitting any paper, run it through Grammarly’s plagiarism checker to ensure that all sources are properly cited and that your work is original.
AI PCs can streamline study sessions by using tools to create comprehensive study guides, generate practice questions, and summarize textbook chapters. For example, AI PCs can integrate with note-taking apps, like Evernote and Microsoft OneNote, to organize lecture notes, create study guides, and sync information across devices. AI features can then assist in summarizing notes and organizing content for easier review.
McAfee Tip: Zotero and Mendeley can help students organize research papers, manage citations, and create bibliographies. Integration with Khan Academy and Coursera on AI PCs allows students to access and interact with educational content, complete with AI-driven recommendations for supplemental learning and practice.
For group projects, AI tools can enhance collaboration by providing a platform for drafting and reviewing content together. AI PCs with integrated ChatGPT can help in brainstorming sessions, while Grammarly ensures that all written contributions are cohesive and professionally presented. Integration with tools like Natural Reader and Otter.ai to convert text to speech and vice versa can help with reviewing study materials and transcribing spoken content into written form.
McAfee Tip: Utilize shared documents with built-in Grammarly and ChatGPT features to collaborate on essays or research papers. This allows for real-time feedback and adjustments, leading to a more polished final product.
In the realm of online research and media consumption, discerning authentic content from manipulated material is increasingly important. This is where McAfee Deepfake Detector comes into play. Integrated into AI PCs, this tool provides real-time alerts when it detects AI-generated audio within videos. By utilizing advanced AI technology, Deepfake Detector helps students quickly identify whether a video’s audio has been manipulated, right from their browser without extra steps.
McAfee Tip: When engaging with online videos for research or study, use Deepfake Detector to ensure the content is authentic. This tool helps you avoid falling for misleading or false information, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of your academic work.
Ultimately, AI PCs are revolutionizing students’ daily academic routines by integrating advanced AI tools into everyday life. AI-driven tools are offering unprecedented support in writing, research, and creative projects, making them invaluable assets in achieving academic and professional success. By leveraging these capabilities, students can enhance their productivity, produce high-quality work, and prepare for future challenges with confidence.
The post How AI PCs Are Optimizing Productivity Tools for Students appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As malicious deepfakes continue to flood our screens with disinformation during this election year, we’ve released our 2024 Election AI Toolkit to help voters protect themselves and their vote.
Our own research reveals just how deep the problem runs. More than six in ten (63%) of Americans said they’ve seen a deepfake in the past 60 days. As for the impact of those deepfakes, nearly half (48%) who’ve seen one said it’s influenced who they’ll vote for in the upcoming election.
In all, we found that 91% of Americans said they’re concerned that AI-generated disinformation could interfere with public perception of candidates, their platforms, or even election results.
Disinformation has played a long and shady role in politics. For some time now. George Washington fell victim to it in 1777 when forged letters painted him as a British sympathizer — disinformation that followed him to the first presidency. [i]
And it’s appeared on the internet for some time too. For years, creating disinformation on the internet called for plenty of manual labor. Writers, designers, and developers all put hours into writing, creating images, and creating sites for spreading disinformation. Now, it takes just one person mere minutes. The advent of cheap and free AI tools has put disinformation into overdrive.
We’ve seen an explosive rise in malicious deepfakes in the run-up to Election Day.
With polling in some states already underway, we can expect the glut of malicious deepfakes to continue. They might:
With that, it’s little surprise that nearly 60% of Americans say that they’re extremely or very concerned about AI’s influence on the election.[vi] Deepfakes have simply become pervasive.
AI has given new life to the old problem of disinformation and fake news. In many ways, it’s supercharged it.
It’s done so in two primary ways:
In all, it’s easier, cheaper, and quicker than ever to create malicious deepfakes with AI tools. On top of that, the image and sound quality of deepfakes continues to improve. In all, it’s only getting tougher when it’s time to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake.
Taken together, this has put voters in a lurch. Who and what can they trust online?
Even as the creators of malicious AI-generated content have gotten cagier in their ways, their work still gives off signs of a fake. However, spotting this malicious content calls for extra effort on everyone’s part when getting their news or scrolling their feeds online. That means scrutinizing what we consume and relying on trusted fact-checking resources to get at the truth. It also means using AI as any ally, with AI tools that detect AI deepfakes in real time.
Our Election Year Toolkit will help you do just that. It covers the basics of fake news and malicious AI deepfakes, how to spot them, and more. As you’ll see, it’s a topic both broad and deep, and we explore it in a step-by-step way that helps make sense of it all for voters.
Sharing info about AI with voters is one of several steps we’ve taken to fight against malicious deepfakes.
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, we’ve teamed up with Yahoo News to bolster the credibility of images on the Yahoo News platform. This collaboration integrates McAfee’s sophisticated deepfake image detection technology into Yahoo News’s content quality system, offering readers an added layer of trust.
And we’re rolling out our McAfee Deepfake detector through our partners too. It checks audio being played through your browser to figure out if the content you’re watching or listening to contains AI-generated audio. When AI audio is detected, users are notified in seconds.
AI makes disinformation look and sound far more credible than ever. And bad actors can produce it on a tremendous scale, thanks to the ease and speed of AI tools. In an election year that calls for more scrutiny on our collective part — and our 2024 Election AI Toolkit can help. It covers how to spot a deepfake, how they spread, and several fact-checking resources that you can rely on when that bit of news you stumble across seems a little sketchy.
Download the full McAfee AI Election Toolkit here
[i] https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/feb/21/when-george-washington-fought-misinformation/
[v] https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/06/political-deepfakes-are-spreading-like-wildfire-thanks-to-genai/
The post How To Survive the Deepfake Election with McAfee’s 2024 Election AI Toolkit appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Think you can spot a fake on social media? It’s getting tougher. Particularly as deepfake technology gets far better and far easier to use.
Here’s why that matters.
You might find yourself among the 50% of Americans who say they get their news on social media at least “sometimes.”[i] Plenty of deepfakes deliberately pose as legitimate news. You might also stumble across promos or deals on social media. Scammers create yet more deepfakes for phony giveaways and bogus investment opportunities.
In short, what you’re seeing might be a fake. And your odds of stumbling across a deepfake on social media are on the climb.
That means using social media today requires more scrutiny and skepticism, which are two of your best tools for spotting deepfakes.
Whether you’re staring down AI-generated text, photography, audio, or video, some straightforward steps can help you spot a fake. Even as AI tools create increasingly convincing deepfakes, a consistent truth applies — they’re lies. And you have ways of calling out a liar.
Malicious deepfakes share something in common. They play on emotions. And they play to biases as well. By stirring up excitement about a “guaranteed” investment or outrage at the apparent words of a politician or public figure, deepfakes cloud judgment. That’s by design. It makes deepfakes more difficult to spot because people want to believe them on some level.
With that, slow down. Especially if you see something that riles you up. This offers one of the best ways to spot a fake. From there, the next step is to validate what you’ve seen or heard.
Because what you’re seeing got posted on social media, you can see who posted the piece of content in question. If it’s a friend, did they repost it? Who was the original poster? Could it be a bot or a bogus account? How long has the account been active? What kind of other posts have popped up on it? If an organization posted it, look it up online. Does it seem reputable? This bit of detective work might not provide a definitive answer, but it can let you know if something seems fishy.
Whether they aim to spread disinformation, commit fraud, or rile up emotions, malicious deepfakes try to pass themselves off as legitimate. Consider a video clip that looks like it got recorded at a press conference. The figure behind the podium says some outrageous things. Did that really happen? Consult other established and respected sources. If they’re not reporting on it, you’re likely dealing with a deepfake.
Moreover, they might report that what you’re looking at is a deepfake that’s making the rounds on the internet. Consider the Taylor Swift “Le Creuset scam” of early 2024. News outlets quickly revealed that the singer was not giving away free, high-end cookware.
A technique called SIFT can help root out a fake. It stands for: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace the media to the original context. With the SIFT method, you can indeed slow down and determine what’s real.
De-bunking fake news takes time and effort. Often a bit of digging and research too. Professional fact-checkers at news and media organizations do this work daily. Posted for all to see, they provide a quick way to get your answers. Some fact-checking groups include:
This gets to the tricky bit. The AI tools for creating deepfakes continually improve. It’s getting tougher and yet tougher still to spot the signs of a deepfake. The advice we give here now might not broadly apply later. Still, bad actors still use older and less sophisticated tools. As such, they can leave signs.
Look for typos. If you spot some, a human likely did the writing. AI generally writes clean text when it comes to spelling and grammar.
Look for repetition. AI chatbots get trained on volumes and volumes of text. As such, they often latch onto pet terms and phrases that they learned as they were trained. Stylistically, AI chatbots often overlook that repetition.
Look for style (or lack thereof). Today’s chatbots are no Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, or Vladimir Nabokov. They lack style. The text they generate often feels canned and flat. Moreover, they tend to spit out statements, yet with little consideration for how they flow together.
Zoom in. A close look at deepfake photos often reveals inconsistencies and flat-out oddities. Consider this viral picture of the “Puffer Pope” that circulated recently. Several things point toward a bogus image.
Keep an eye on the speaker. A close look at who’s doing the talking in a deepfake video can reveal if it’s a fake. Subtle things reveal themselves. Is the speaker blinking too much? Too little? At all? How about their speech. Does it sync up with their mouth perfectly? These might be signs of a deepfake.
Watch how the speaker moves. In the example of the Ukrainian presidential deepfake, it appears that only President Zelensky’s head moves. Just slightly. This is a sign of lower-grade video deepfake technology. It has difficulty tracking movement. Another possible sign is if the speaker never moves their hand across their face. Once again, that might indicate the work of lesser AI tools. In that case, they render the facial image on the hand.
How does the speaker sound? In the case of audio-only deepfakes, today’s AI tools work best when they’re fed smaller chunks of text to create speech. They don’t work as well with big blocks. This requires creators to stitch those chunks together. As a result, the cadence and flow might sound on the copy side. Also, you might not hear the speaker taking breaths, as normal speakers do.
With AI tools improving so quickly, we can no longer take things at face value. Malicious deepfakes look to deceive, defraud, and disinform. And the people who create them hope you’ll consume their content in one, unthinking gulp. Scrutiny is key today. Fact-checking is a must, particularly as deepfakes look sharper and sharper as the technology evolves.
Plenty of deepfakes can lure you into sketchy corners of the internet. Places where malware and phishing sites take root. Consider using comprehensive online protection software with McAfee+ to keep safe. In addition to several features that protect your devices, privacy, and identity, they can warn you of unsafe sites too. While it might not sniff out AI content (yet), it offers strong protection against bad actors who might use fake news to steal your info or harm your data and devices.
[i] https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet
The post How to Spot a Deepfake on Social Media appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Thinking about deleting your Instagram account? We can show you how.
Before we get to that, you might be interested to find what kind of data Instagram collects about you — and how long Instagram keeps your account data, even after you delete it.
For that answer, we turn to Instagram’s privacy policy page.[i] As you might imagine, the list of what they collect is long — long enough that you’ll want to read it for yourself. Yet, broadly, Instagram provides the following summary as part of its June 2024 Privacy Policy.
Per Instagram they collect:
The last bullet is an important one. Instagram very likely knows about things you do even when you’re not using Instagram. How do they get a hold of that info? Per Instagram, third parties use a mix of “Business Tools,” integrations, and Meta Audience Network technologies to share info.
So, what are these “Business Tools?” Per Instagram, they’re technologies used by website owners and publishers, app developers, and business partners, including advertisers and others. These technologies integrate and share data with Meta (Instagram’s parent company) to understand and measure their products and services. They also help them better reach and serve people who use or might be interested in their products and services.
Also per Instagram, here are examples of info they might receive this way:
Everyone has their own appetite for privacy, and we’ve all known for some time that with using a “free” social media platform comes a price — privacy to some extent or other. The more you know how much a platform knows about you, the better decision you can make about participating on it.
As for how long they keep all that data and info they collect, the answer varies. Per Instagram, “We keep information as long as we need it to provide our Products, comply with legal obligations or protect our or other’s interests. We decide how long we need information on a case-by-case basis.”
Also per Instagram, here’s what they consider when they keep data info:
In short, deleting your Instagram account is no guarantee that your data will immediately get deleted along with it. Per the list above, Instagram’s Privacy Policy allows the platform to keep your data for an indeterminate amount of time.
Per Instagram’s policy, your access to your account and info will be permanently removed 30 days after your request. However, according to Instagram, it may take up to 90 days to complete the deletion process after it begins. Copies of your content may remain after the 90 days in backup storage that Instagram uses to recover in case of a disaster, software error, or other data loss event.
Now, onto the steps for deleting your Instagram account.
From your computer:
More in the bottom left, then click Settings .From your Android device:
or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile. in the top right.From your iOS device:
or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile. in the top right.We suggest one more step in addition to the ones above.
Remove your info from the data broker sites that sell it.
Here’s why you might want to do that … Given the way social media companies share info with third parties, there’s a chance your personal info might have made it onto one or several data broker sites. These sites buy and sell extensive lists of personal to anyone, which ranges anywhere from advertisers to spammers and scammers.
If the thought of your personal info being bought and sold puts you off, there’s something you can do about it. Our Personal Data Cleanup service can scan some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites, and with select products, it can even manage the removal for you.
[i] https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/
The post How to Delete Your Instagram Account appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Thinking about deleting your Facebook account? We can show you how.
Before we get to that, you might be interested to find what kind of data Facebook collects about you — and how long Facebook keeps your account data, even after you delete it.
For that answer, we turn to Facebook’s privacy policy page.[i] As you might imagine, the list of what they collect is long—long enough that you’ll want to read it for yourself. Yet, broadly, Facebook provides the following summary as part of its June 2024 Privacy Policy.
Per Facebook, they collect:
The last bullet is an important one. Facebook very likely knows about things you do even when you’re not using Facebook.
How do they know about that? Increasingly, that comes through a technology called “server-side tracking.” It’s a form of ad and behavior tracking where a company’s servers communicate directly with each other. In this case, that’s a company’s servers and Facebook’s servers. It can track custom events like page visits, purchases, and the like. This way, companies can track the performance of their Facebook campaigns. It’s like using tracking cookies, with one important difference — it bypasses the user’s device. (Cookies rely on data stored on your device.) The process is invisible to the user.
How extensive is its use? A recent study by Consumer Reports of more than 700 Facebook users found that the average user was tracked by more than 2,200 companies partly using this technology.[ii] Consumer Reports was quick to state that their findings don’t reflect a representative sample because participants were volunteers, and the results weren’t adjusted for demographics. Yet it is telling that across these 700-plus Facebook users, roughly 7,000 different companies shared their data with Facebook.
Everyone has their own appetite for privacy, and we’ve all known for some time that with using a “free” social media platform comes a price — privacy to some extent or other. The more you know how much a platform knows about you, the better decision you can make about participating in it.
As for how long they keep all that data and info they collect, the answer varies. Per Facebook,
In short, deleting your Facebook account is no guarantee that your data will immediately get deleted along with it. Per the list above, Facebook’s Privacy Policy allows the platform to keep your data for an indeterminate amount of time.
Now, onto the steps for deleting your Facebook account.
Before you permanently delete your account, keep a few things in mind. Per Facebook:
Note that Facebook provides a 30-day grace period once you delete your account. If you want to hop back onto the platform, you can simply reactivate your account during that period. All your info, data, and posts will be there. After those 30 days, you’ll no longer have access to them.
As for the steps, that varies. If you’re deleting Facebook from a computer:
If you’re deleting Facebook from an iOS device:
in the bottom right of Facebook.And from an Android device:
in the top right of Facebook.We suggest one more step in addition to the ones above.
Remove your info from the data broker sites that sell it.
Here’s why you might want to do that … Given the way social media companies share info with third parties, there’s a chance your personal info might have made it onto one or several data broker sites. These sites buy and sell extensive lists of personal to anyone, which ranges anywhere from advertisers to spammers and scammers.
If the thought of your personal info being bought and sold puts you off, there’s something you can do about it. Our Personal Data Cleanup service can scan some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites, and with select products, it can even manage the removal for you.
[i] https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/?entry_point=data_policy_redirect&entry=0
[ii] https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/privacy/each-facebook-user-is-monitored-by-thousands-of-companies-a5824207467/
The post How to Delete Your Facebook Account appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Thinking about deleting your TikTok account? We can show you how.
Before we get to that, you might be interested to find what kind of data TikTok collects about you — and how long TikTok keeps your account data, even after you delete it.
For that, we turn to TikTok’s privacy policy page.[i] TikTok collects data just like practically any other social media platform, and the list of what they collect runs long. You can see a full list in their privacy policy, yet here are a few things you might want to know about. Per TikTok:
So, TikTok knows the content you create, the content you appear in, and the messages you send (and the specific contents of those messages) — and potentially payment info and the people in your phone contacts. Additionally, it collects info on you from other sources and on any purchases you might have made through the platform.
The list continues. Once again, you can visit their privacy policy page for more details, yet here’s a partial rundown of other data they collect about you automatically. Per TikTok:
As for how long they keep all that data and info they collect, the answer is unclear. Per TikTok,
“We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Platform and for the other purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We also retain information when necessary to comply with contractual and legal obligations, when we have a legitimate business interest to do so (such as improving and developing the Platform and enhancing its safety, security, and stability), and for the exercise or defense of legal claims.” [ii]
The key phrases here are “as long as necessary” and “when necessary.” TikTok doesn’t set a specific period in its policy. In fact, TikTok goes on to say that the periods vary based on “different criteria, such as the type of information and the purposes for which we use the information.”
Now, onto the steps for deleting your TikTok account.
Note that TikTok provides a 30-day grace period once you delete your account. If you want to hop back onto the platform, you can simply reactivate your account during that period. All your info, data, and posts will be there. After those 30 days, you’ll no longer have access to them.
We suggest one more step in addition to the ones above.
Here’s why you might want to do that … Given the way social media companies share info with third parties, there’s a chance your personal info might have made it onto one or several data broker sites. These sites buy and sell extensive lists of personal to anyone, which ranges anywhere from advertisers to spammers and scammers.
If the thought of your personal info being bought and sold puts you off, there’s something you can do about it. Our Personal Data Cleanup service can scan some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites, and with select products, it can even manage the removal for you.
[i] https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/row/privacy-policy/en
[ii] https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/row/privacy-policy/en
The post How to Delete Your TikTok Account appeared first on McAfee Blog.
What is oversharing on social media? And how do you avoid it?
Oversharing on social media takes on a couple different aspects. There’s one that’s personal, like what you share and how often you share it. Another revolves around your privacy and your security. Namely, how does what you share and how often you share it affect your privacy — and what further effect does that have on your security? Does it open you up to scams, identity theft, and other forms of cybercrime?
A grasp on that can help you avoid oversharing and post on social media in a way that’s “just right.”
Granted, it might seem a little odd to talk about privacy and the like on social media, which is, by definition, social in nature. The idea, though, is striking a balance — getting all the benefits of connection and keeping up with people and groups that matter to you in a way that’s enjoyable and safe. And healthy too.
Let’s start with a look at what oversharing looks like and its possible effects. From there, we can check out some specific ways you can avoid oversharing on social media.
For starters, oversharing usually conjures up the notion of T.M.I., or “too much information.” That might involve posting too often, yet it can also involve sharing too many personal details. Along those lines, a long-standing definition of oversharing goes like this:
“The excessive generosity with information about one’s private life or the private lives of others.”[i]
Of course, “excessive” is a relative term. Different people have different boundaries when it comes to what’s personal. Likewise, the people reading a post have different ideas of what counts as sharing “too much” and what doesn’t.
Further complicating the matter is how many people choose to have multiple accounts on the same platform.
In particular, teens and younger adults often have a broader public account with many followers along with a more private account that they share with select friends. A post that might be fine, and expected, on a private account might come across as an overshare on a public account.
However, there are cases where oversharing can point to deeper issues, like anxiety, depression, and unhealthy attention-seeking behavior. So-called “sadfishing” offers one example, where people create negative posts in a bid to get sympathy. Other examples include sharing details about oneself online that a person would normally never share on a phone call or in a face-to-face conversation.
If you have concerns about yourself or someone you know, confide in someone you trust for advice. See if they have the same concerns as you do. Also, in the U.S., you can speak to speak to a licensed counselor through the “988” service, which you can learn more about at https://988lifeline.org. It’s free and confidential.
When it comes to privacy and security, oversharing takes on a different meaning. Elsewhere in our blogs, we’ve talked about that issue like this:
“Saying more than you should to more people than you should.”
Now, here’s where your privacy and security come in. Consider the audience you have across your social media profiles. Perhaps you have dozens, if not hundreds of friends and followers. All with various degrees of closeness and familiarity. Post something personal on social media to that broad audience, and you indeed might end up sharing something that puts your personal privacy and security at risk. After all, if you have hundreds of followers, how many of them are people you truly know and absolutely trust?
Here are a few scenarios:
In other words, social media posts have a way of saying much more than we might think. And when shared publicly or to a large audience of friends and followers you don’t know well, that can expose you in ways you might not want.
As with so many things online, staying safer and more private calls for a mix of technology and internet street smarts. Things like settings, privacy tools, and what you post can help you enjoy social media safely.
Be more selective with your settings.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others give you the choice of making your profile and posts visible to friends only. Choosing this setting keeps the broader internet from seeing what you’re doing, saying, and posting — not to mention your relationships and likes. (Think of your social media profile showing up in a Google search.) Taking a “friends only” approach to your social media profiles can help protect your privacy because that gives a possible scammer or stalker much less material to work with.
Some platforms further allow you to create sub-groups of friends and followers. With a quick review of your network, you can create a sub-group of your most trusted friends and restrict your posts to them as needed.
Stay on top of your privacy with our Social Privacy Manager.
Here’s the thing with those social media settings — they can be challenging to locate and confusing to adjust. In all, it can take time to make sure that your info and posts are only shown to people you want to see them. Our Social Privacy Manager can do that work for you.
Based on your preferences, it adjusts more than 100 privacy settings across your social media accounts in just a few clicks. This way, your personal info is only visible to the people you want to share it with.
Say “no” to bots and bogus accounts.
There are plenty of fake accounts out there on social media. On Facebook, the platform acted on 1.2 billion fake accounts between April and June 2024 alone.[iii] On X, formerly Twitter, the platform announced a “bot purge” in 2024. However, in May 2023, the platform suspended access to a publicly available data set that helped find and track bots on the platform. Still, researchers continue to find false accounts, particularly ones powered by AI tools.[iv]
The bottom line is this: don’t accept invites from people you don’t know. Bad actors might use them to launch scams, gather personal info on potential identity theft victims, and spread disinformation. Also, be aware that some followers might not be who they appear to be. In the immediate wake of the “bot purge” on X, many accounts saw themselves losing thousands of followers.[v]
Consider what you post.
Think about posting those vacation pictures after you get back home, so people don’t know you’re away when you’re away. Also, consider if your post pinpoints where you are or where you go regularly. Do you want people in your broader network to know that? Closely review the pics you take and see if there’s any revealing information in the background. If so, you can crop it out (think notes on a whiteboard, reflections in a window, or revealing location info). Further, ask anyone you want to include in their post for their permission. In all, consider their privacy too.
Consider what you post about others, too.
Indeed, oversharing can include what you post and say about others online as well. A good rule of thumb when posting group pictures online is to ask if the other people in them are okay with it going onto social media. Also ask yourself, “Is this my news to share?” For example, a friend leaves one job to take on a new role elsewhere. Before posting, “Congrats on the new job!” let them make that first announcement themselves.
For parents, this calls for extra consideration too. Anything you post about your child becomes a part of their permanent online record. What might seem funny or cute today might become embarrassing or even fodder for cyberbullies tomorrow.
Yes, you give up some privacy by using social media. That’s the very nature of it. The trick is in sharing just enough and with just the right people.
Being careful of who you accept as a friend, keeping an eye on accounts that follow you, and paying mind to what you post and how often are all ways you can prevent oversharing. Likewise, using tools to fine-tune who sees your posts, keeping things to close friends in sub-groups or secondary accounts, and keeping your social media accounts out of the public eye are yet more steps you can take to protect yourself, your privacy, and your security on social media.
[i] https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/front-and-backstage-in-social-media
[ii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/11/japanese-assault-suspect-tracked-down-pop-star-via-eye-reflection-in-selfie
[iii] https://transparency.meta.com/reports/community-standards-enforcement/fake-accounts/facebook
[iv] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.16336
[v] https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/x-formerly-twitter-bot-purge-sees-big-accounts-lose-followers/712495/
The post How to Avoid Oversharing on Social Media appeared first on McAfee Blog.
With its built-in location services, your smartphone can point you to plenty of places. To the location of your vacation rental. To the quickest route around a traffic jam. And to a tasty burger. It’s a tremendous convenience. Yet, there’s a flip side. Your smartphone also tracks your location. Getting to know how your phone tracks you and how you can limit that tracking can make you far more private online.
The basic privacy issue with location services is this: many companies use your activities and apps as a way of gathering info on you. They might collect that info for their own purposes, and they might sell that info to third parties.
As to why some companies do that, the answer typically boils down to a handful of things. They will:
So, it’s a bit of a tradeoff. You might use an app to show you the closest Indian restaurant to your hotel — but depending on the user agreement for that app, the company behind it might collect your info for their own financial gain.
We can boil that down yet further. Sometimes what you gain in convenience you lose in privacy.
Let’s look at how smartphones track your movements and follow that up with ways you can limit that tracking.
Unless you’ve turned it off completely, your phone can track you in several ways with several degrees of accuracy:
GPS: The Global Positioning System, or GPS as many of us know it, is a system of satellites operated by the U.S. government for navigation purposes. First designed for national defense, the system became available for public use in the 1980s. It’s highly accurate, to anywhere between nine to 30 feet depending on conditions and technology used, making it one of the strongest tools for determining a phone’s location. This is what powers location services on cell phones, and thus can help an app recommend a great burger joint nearby.
Cell towers: Cell phone providers can track a phone’s location by the distance it is to various cell phone towers and by the strength of its signal. The location info this method provides is a bit coarser than GPS, providing results that can place a phone within 150 feet. It’s most accurate in urban areas with high densities of cell phone towers, although it does not always work well indoors as some buildings can weaken or block cell phone signals.
One of the most significant public benefits of this method is that it automatically routes emergency services calls (like 911 in the U.S.) to the proper local authorities without any guesswork from the caller.
Public Wi-Fi: Larger tech companies and internet providers will sometimes provide free public Wi-Fi hotspots that people can tap into at airports, restaurants, coffeehouses, and such. It’s a nice convenience, but connecting to their Wi-Fi might share a phone’s MAC address, a unique identifier for connected devices, along with other identifiers on the smartphone.
Taken together, this can allow the Wi-Fi hosting company to gather location and behavioral data while you use your phone on their Wi-Fi network.
Bluetooth: Like with public Wi-Fi, companies can use strategically placed Bluetooth devices to gather location info as well. If Bluetooth is enabled on a phone, it will periodically seek out Bluetooth-enabled devices to connect to while the phone is awake. This way, a Bluetooth receiver can then capture that phone’s unique MAC address. This provides highly accurate location info to within just a few feet because of Bluetooth’s short broadcast range.
In the past, we’ve seen retailers use this method to track customers in their physical stores to better understand their shopping habits. However, newer phones often create dummy MAC addresses when they seek out Bluetooth connections, which helps thwart this practice.
So, just to emphasize what we said above, not every app sells shares or sells your info to third parties. However, that gets into the complicated nature of user agreements. The language that covers what’s collected, for what reasons, what’s done with it, and who it’s shared with often finds itself buried in a wall of legalese.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine what your comfort level is in any kind of convenience in exchange for a loss of privacy. Everyone has their own comfort levels.
With that, you can take several steps to limit tracking on your smartphone to various degrees — and boost your privacy to various degrees as a result:
Turn off your phone or switch to Airplane Mode. Disconnect. Without a Wi-Fi or data connection, you can’t get tracked. While this makes you unreachable, it also makes you untraceable, which you might want to consider if you’d rather keep your whereabouts and travels to yourself for periods of time.
Turn off location services altogether. As noted above, your smartphone can get tracked by other means, yet disabling location services in your phone settings shuts down a primary avenue of location data collection. Note that your maps apps won’t offer directions and your restaurant app won’t point you toward that tasty burger when location services are off, but you’ll be more private than with them turned on.
Provide permissions on an app-by-app basis. Another option is to go into your phone settings and enable location services for specific apps in specific cases. For example, you can set your map app to enable location services only while in use. For other apps, you can disable location services entirely. Yet another option is to have the app ask for permissions each time. Note that this is a great way to discover if apps have defaulted to using location services without your knowledge when you installed them.
On an iPhone, you can find this in Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Location Services. On an Android, go to Settings -> Locations -> App Locations Permissions.
Delete old apps. And be choosy about new ones. Fewer apps mean fewer avenues of potential data collection. If you have old, unused apps, consider deleting them, along with the accounts and data associated with them.
Use a VPN. A VPN can make your time online more private and more secure by obscuring things like your IP address and by preventing snoops from monitoring your activity.
Turn off app tracking. As you’ve seen, some apps will ask to track your activity and potentially share it with data brokers and other third parties. You can halt this by turning off app tracking. On an iPhone, go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Tracking and disable “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” On an Android phone, go to Settings -> Privacy and Security, then turn on “Do Not Track.”
And just as you can with location services, you can set apps to make tracking requests on an app-by-app basis. You’ll see it on the same screen that has the global “Do Not Track” option.
Opt yourself out of cell phone carrier ad programs. Different cell phone carriers have different user agreements, yet some might allow the carrier to share insights about you with third parties based on browsing and usage history. Opting out of these programs might not stop your cell phone carrier from collecting data about you, but it might prevent it from sharing insights about you with others.
To see if you participate in one of these programs, log into your account portal or app. Look for settings around “relevant advertising,” “custom experience,” or even “advertising,” and then determine if these programs are of worth to you.
The post Location, Location, Location: Three Reasons It Matters for Your Smartphone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
