Fake Antivirus being used to sell real McAfee

Fake antivirus popups are now being used to promote real Norton and McAfee products. Promoted through browser notifications they can now show up on your lock screen and make using your PC impossible. Get Guardio for free: guard.io/pcsecurity (sponsor)
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[@calebchris000]

Scams are suddenly converging from illegitimate scams to legitimate scam

[@teamwolfyta6511]

That's funny. How long until they become the embodiment of "You have become the very thing you swore to destroy"?

[@yoppindia]

he is already, he was selling gardio extension

[@craftingdragon007]

​@@yoppindiaI didn't even realize (Sponsorblock). But yeah that's the thing with most KZbinrs today, when the KZbin money isn't enough, just accept every sponsorship, even if the product is trash.

[@gaeshows1938]

Follow the money

[@f3rny_66]

@@yoppindia more ironic is that guardio installed extensions without the customers knowledge and got caught

[@UberGeek]

I had a client who got taken by this scam. He got McAfee AND a backdoor with remote (support) of his laptop. They would lock out his access with "Please wait... Updating" overlay. He identified that the mouse was still active and the only thing he could do was a force shutdown.

[@xpower7125]

2:59 this is why you should use an adblocker

[@lussor1]

Ublock

[@chocolateimage]

@@lussor1 ..origin

[@gameboy47t13]

ublock origin my beloved

[@CrucialConflict.]

AdGuard is king!

[@lussor1]

@@CrucialConflict. Thats not a browser ad blocking, just DNS

[@MikaelKKarlsson]

What's worse, this browser(web service even) to system notification hook is being used largely as Microsoft intended.. It's about advertisementing first and the interests of the users last.

[@johnsmith34]

This has nothing to do with Microsoft. Ubuntu has a notification API with the same capabilities. Edge is just Chrome, and Firefox does the same.

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

well there is a difference. Typical linux user knows how to make internet browsing safer place, so firefox is likely hardened. Win user is likely not aware of anything like this, so will be using a browser with default settings, which are not that secure or private. Even installing a firefox on any platform including windows nowadays probably means that the person has understanding why to go with it

[@x-user3462]

​@@user-od4gs3iu4t hardened browser making easier to track you. For example you disabled weak TLS cipher suites, great now you have almost unique ja3 hash. Same goes with disabled webrtc, blocked scripts and so on. The more you deviate from average user the easier for them to identify you.

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

@@x-user3462 for many tasks it doesn't matter if I'm tracked or not. I don't want to be tracked e.g. if I look for information about health issues, but I don't care if I'm tracked when visiting yt. The worst comes with social networks and cookies that you accept (or avoid, or block) them, because they are everywhere on the web. And if you want to avoid them, you need to block them. Simply hardening web browser is not enough. When you need a private (and also enhanced security) session, it's rather advisable to use Mullvad (with some VPN) or ultimately Tor. This is what I could recommend as an optimal approach. As for using "noscript" and similar extensions, they are for enhanced security

[@calvindang7291]

​@user-od4gs3iu4t I mean; not always. I downloaded firefox intially solely because chrome was being slow and trying a different browser is the obvious thing to try.

[@Akotski-ys9rr]

I personally see no reason why I’d ever need notifications from a website. I rarely ever even turn on notifications on apps on my phone

[@teh_supar_hackr]

Desktop notifications from a web browser is the most worthless feature on Windows 10/11 I've seen.

[@gamesgo6724]

mostly for KZbin,social media and forums that are available only in the internet

[@slacier_the_remixer]

Is it just me or does he find every single bad program on the internet? 😭

[@agentoranj5858]

Wow it's almost like that's his job or something.

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

you probably don't have neither of the folloing: 1. No Pi hole or any similar local server for clean internet access 2. No secure DNS, no content filter 3. no malware blocker list 4. no AD remover tool/extension You might just have an antivirus, so it makes all the job for your unfiltered internet traffic, which nowadays is a mess

[@Makslaskabata]

​@user-od4gs3iu4t "haha nerd i hav malwarebytez and u dont" Who asked for your comment brother

[@wolf1438]

This is not only issue with desktop, it plagues android devices as well. First time I ran into this was few months ago when office worker came to me with company phone complaining about viruses. In reality it was just chrome spamming with notifications. Maybe Alphabet should focus more energy how to deal with this kind of issue instead of trying to disable adblockers.

[@ghostdragon2593]

The company is better off ditching Chrome on their Android phones because Google decided to not allow extensions like the pc version and I doubt they ever well.

[@walrider]

Kiwi is a good alternative since it's chromium and allow plugins from chrome so uBlock and all that

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

Despite having bought my windows license multiple times because when I bought the devices I bought I was never asked if wanted another OS, I still consider the biggest waste of money I ever had to withstand was last time when I bought a laptop and unknowingly a 1-year McAfee subscription. McAfee is less than useful, so disreputable it goes to downright malicious in intent. I wouldn't be surprised if the current CEO themselves ventilated the actual John McAfee in the back of the head.

[@lainamitclaire]

In fairness John McAfee is pretty unhinged and psychotic himself.

[@C_rrptd]

Buy a windows license is already a scam, I usually just scour in the internet just searching for those windows key license list

[@user-nu1ix8qk6o]

not only edge sadly, chrome too have this feature. "Continue running background extensions and apps when *chromium browser* is closed" ,if we not disable manually the browser will working at background all the time

[@Vichingo455]

I know this thing since some years. I got some fake McAfee ads on a VM, I clicked buy now and I got in the real McAfee purchase page.

[@FuzeTheWholeTeam]

what a wonderful video, keep up the good work man love the content as always

[@Alchemetica]

I subscribed to Guardio after seeing it on your channel and I am impressed with the service. It just works and I don't notice any impact on my system, plus it doesn't continually announce itself. The one criticism is I get regular emails from them asking me to change from monthly to yearly, the incentive is to save money. It does not make sense to me as it is charged in USD and I pay in AUD which fluctuates and is currently weak against the USD, currently around AUD 0.64 against USD 1.00. It makes it one of the more costly subscriptions for us in Oz.

[@TheTazzeye]

Blah blah blah ...;cheers cheers cheers....product placement hyping up...blah blah blah....just use one of these free ones - they work great,doing the exact same thing for free : uBlock origin; AdGuard ; AdBlock...and Privacy Badger

[@theAlyux]

I can already hear Enderman talking about browser service workers 🤣

[@pritomm3]

This happened to one of my friend 4 days ago. When I went to help him I saw that he already had an active subscription for McAfee with 10months left. Still the pop-ups redirected to buy another subscription. Just because he only had Edge, I knew that he might have gone to some shady sites and that caused him this. I fixed the notification issue, and above all that I UNINSTALLED McAfee from his PC 😆. Told him not to install or buy any other Antivirus, cause nowadays Windows Defender is more than enough for a normal user.

[@aussiegruber86]

Love your content, would you minds doing a video on parenteral controls and filter with antivirus software.

[@coming2getu64]

I experienced something similar and also wondered why this is allowed, thanks 👍

[@yotoprules9361]

This has been going on for years, it sucks.

[@leexgx]

Make sure you turn off the first two options first one is startup boost second one is allow Chrome or edge to run in the background when closed the second one just set it to block all notifications never having set to ask (which annoyingly the default chrome and Edge really need to turn that feature off it says no purpose apart from spamming the user who doesn't know how to get rid of them)

[@alleeadl289]

Also always use ad-blockers For All platforms: Ublock Origin for Android: Nextcloud RethinkDns

[@mzmknight]

bro was like "yay(!)" 🤣

[@a.randomjack6661]

'Protection racket'

[@duplicake4054]

This is old news. Enderman made a video about this about 2 years ago

[@theirisheditor]

From what I've seen with people hit by these browser notification scam pop-ups (more often on phones), they usually result from landing on a malicious website saying something like "Are not a robot? Press the "Allow" button to verify you're human" with an animated robot / avatar, where the person falsely assumes it's just a captcha.

[@CptJhonprice]

Mcafee got hacked in 2011-2012 stopped using them since..

[@7rich79]

The threat of having mcafee installed is enough to make someone pay any bitcoin fee to get rid of it.

[@TontNZ]

I experienced this exact McAfee spamware problem. Had a brief WTF moment when I saw the message, did a full virus scan (can't be too careful), no positives then started looking more carefully. Like others surprised that this spamware uses supported OS/Browser features. Fortunately easy to remove.

[@kiraqueen2510]

hey i love your videos,could you make a video on how to analize dlls?

[@Incrypter]

Great video!

[@Corrupdowsofficial]

I remember I was a victim of one of these viruses back in 2021 when I first got my new laptop from HP

[@x-user3462]

One of the first things i do after fresh firefox installation is going to settings and checking "block new requests asking to allow notifications". Some goes for webcam, microphone, geolocation etc.

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

or get "noscript" extension which will make most of the job for you, still allowing all the functionality on trustworthy web sites

[@x-user3462]

@@user-od4gs3iu4t glad for you, but blocked annoying requests doesn't mean that i can't allow this things on web sites where i need it.

[@x-user3462]

@@user-od4gs3iu4t but I can allow this functionality on web sites where I need it without any extensions.

[@Scio-to1ur]

Brave makes it so much easier than Edge/Chrome with disabling notifications... less than four clicks and not a dozen different notification toggles.

[@vr0k3n]

You can disable Edge running in the background by disabling it on its settings tho, no need to have it run in the background all the time

[@StillMemes]

3:17 i believe wallpaper cave might the one you're talking about? cause it has the indicator that it has been clicked.

[@GigawattGarage]

The number one issue I see with basic malware and pop-ups is these stupid browsing notifications I don't know why it's enabled by default. The first thing I do with every client computer is disable chrome and edge browser notifications and of course install UBlock origin.

[@pjcpspn670]

wow, Norton Inner Face w/a McAfee Signature its mind boggling what scammers can do now a days.

[@ampeg187]

0:50 - identity crisis :D

[@TheDiamondTDS]

lol good one

[@PVP_GAMERizi]

being ashamed that most scammers are from India

[@Henk717]

This one I have encountered for a few years now, this has been going on for very long.

[@Crazy--Clown]

I don't know about Edge but Chrome & Brave have a option not to run in background when closed. Look in advanced settings

[@KGBSpyGeorgeCostanza]

Now things are getting much sneakier, up to no good and much more hoot-nanny

[@thatzaliasguy]

This isn't malware by definition; this is targeted _adware,_ which M$ now allows within Windows 11 per their advert API specifically created to push ads into File Explorer and Windows Desktop Shell. Whats more atrocious, is the exploitations that can now arise from the misuse of this API. More reasons to ditch Windows, and go Linux/Mac/fBSD or literally anything _not_ Windows. This is pure negligent compliance on M$'s part, which puts less tach-savvy individuals at higher risks than ever before in Windows' history.

[@luxandhonor5101]

This is becoming more difficult as secure boot is intentionally becoming harder to disable in more recently developed UEFI/BIOS settings. My computer uses secure boot and will even randomly re-enable it up on startup.

[@Syping]

​@@luxandhonor5101major distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu are signed for Secure Boot, probably Debian aswell but not 100% sure

[@NotAnotherArtVideo]

The ones I experienced might qualify as malware, as they took over (fullscreen overlay, audio) following forced redirects from MS-served content.

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

what's the difficulty? you can install as many OSes as you can, if you use a proper boot manager. Some OSes have a tendency to re-write the boot manager when you install it (or during some updates), so be ready to renew your favourite boot manager. But dual boot is not an effective way, as practice shows. Better use VM or different systems on different hardware. My second older computer runs linux and perform mostly server functions like backup, storage

[@luxandhonor5101]

@@user-od4gs3iu4t it's not about difficulty, it's about ownership and user behavioral changes. There's no shortage of videos contesting the problems with secure boot inhibiting bare metal installation of Linux in systems that come with windows by default. That doesn't sound terrible on the surface for a casual user, but if windows is going to have end of life service and I'm locked into using their OS because of UEFI limitations, then that's an issue.

[@alecheesacker4460]

Yeah! It's similar to Softonic's Cheat Engine Package giving you A Fake Norton Antivirus and Hijacking IE Home Page on Windows 7! Loud Warning Error Sound Effect. Your Browser Has Stopped Due To Malware. Similar reactor core sound from Star Gate.

[@TrophicBog]

dam, I actually thought my computer was infected 😅. Thank you. I literally just came down to check if this website was legit or not and turns out, its not...

[@HuntertheWolf]

remember if your pc gets invaded by a screen raper just push alt control delete and bring up your task manager also if it still holds your screen hostage use alt tab as you can use this to see your programs

[@triangle3113]

Edge keeps running in background for an option called "fast startup" (on by default), disable it and it wont run in background.

[@matan-h]

I remember enderman talk about that about half year ago , he thought it was an official scam. very interesting

[@cambridgeport90]

I have seen this where I work. Never have quite figured out how to fix it.

[@MCAlexisYT]

If that isn’t the most roundabout way to promote McAfee, I don’t know what is.

[@lovedeath9075]

Have never once allowed my browser to send a single notification, ever. Why would I?

[@TheTazzeye]

This is not new...it has been happening for years : people using affiliate links to get payed, all starting with notifications after visiting some questionable pages

[@MrVidification]

Its asking you to buy, did it run or open anything in the bg that will log or record your details as you sign up to mcafee and enter bank details

[@TheLegitAlpha]

Ran into this while I was trying to find a program to read a torrent file (for a Linux distro for context), and it was bundled in. The notification stopped after I cleared the cache in chrome. I knew right away. It was fake because I had a different anti-malware (specifically Eset)

[@abc_cba]

As an Indian, I always feel ashamed that most scammers are from here. But Nigerians and Pakistanis are also not very far behind. I apologise on behalf of all the good Indians.

[@ViIgax]

SAAAAR DO NOT REDEEM

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

Man you shouldn't be ashamed by the fact that India is a big nation. A lot of people, a lot of scammers

[@jigsaw2253]

Common India L

[@KenPryor]

I haven't seen any of these yet, but I have received quite a few spam messages with links that led to the real AV sites, along with the affiliate codes.

[@walrider]

I recommend people to stay away from Guardio. They are really sketchy and employ scare tactics to try to make you pay. Like the ones McCafee and Norton use. Bit sad that a channel about security promotes this but you can't refuse easy money i guess. Basically dont trust any KZbinrs when they talk about a sponsor, it's either a scam or some overpriced useless thing.

[@BEAMNGLOL24]

I had this and it got to the point where it would say that someone was on my account with a Russian REAL IP address which is insane

[@mouseking7220]

I came upon one of these when I misstyped a url, but today it was different. I knew what I typed wrong, and when I tried to misstype it again, I didn't get to this webpage.

[@DaniiiAy]

yeah, these started in the 2020's they have been out there for a while.

[@trentdavies4976]

hi John ! good work , it is your company after all

[@rushigaikwad7683]

Does windows factory reset and deleting backup remove malware?

[@NikolasTheCuber]

I actually saw this a few months ago!

[@hikaritsumi2123]

No site should ever send notification ever, sure it's free real estate but like WHO LET THIS HAPPEN

[@AshnSilvercorp]

Web notifications are the dumbest thing. No security was thought of with them whatsoever...

[@CaptApple]

You say, "Edge runs all the time and that's just the way Windows runs today." I say I just yesterday hit control alt delete and entered the Startup tab in Task manager on a Windows 11 PC and chose Disable for the Edge line item and rebooted the PC. Edge did not start with the O/S. My client is now using the Firefox browser I installed at that time and they are amazed at the new speed of their PC. How come you don't say this? I'm relatively sure you know it. Is it that you think your audience might make a mistake in Task manager? Curious in San Diego. 45 years in the computer industry.

[@ghostdragon2593]

I have windows 11 and have never had to mess with task manager and edge doesn't start with windows for me.There should be settings within edge that prevents the browser from continuing to run in the background after closing edge and startup with windows.

[@CaptApple]

@@ghostdragon2593 Yeah there should be. Did you have a point to make or are you doing the internet commenter thing...?

[@ghostdragon2593]

@@CaptApple No I'm saying there's edge settings you can tweak if your to lazy to look for yourself that's your problem. No need for task manager "45 years in computer industry guy"

[@CaptApple]

@@ghostdragon2593 Of course. I'm LAZY. That's gotta be it.

[@PBalint817]

4:23 It is running, yes, but not because it's part of the OS in this case, but because you most likely have "Startup boost" and "Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed". Edge closes properly for me To be fair tho, these kinds of settings are all bull**** that literally nobody wants, and are enabled by default...

[@HuntertheWolf]

thats because edge saves your windows make sure to hard shutdown your edge but be warned this may perma close your tabs as well

[@Foxconnpc]

I removed edge months ago by taking away all rights from Microsoft folder in Program Files and deleting all contents. Now neither edge or web view can reinstall themselves. This seems to be the ONLY working method right now.

[@Stryker-K]

So is there an actual good anti virus? Anyone know if Windows Defender is good enough in terms of anti virus programs?

[@user-od4gs3iu4t]

it's reasonably good for its price, i.e. for free. It doesn't have a lot of configurations, unless you use some 3rd party soft, and does not give you any advance protection. So if you want to have any (not only win defender) antivirus, you better use some additional security utilities, and content blocker. A good pack is Portmaster from Safing. It's a firewall, secure DNS configuration tool, content blocker and some more useful features, all most of the features are for free. If you want to go even one step further, a good HIPS utility is recommended, like COMODO

[@astreaea.escanes]

This is funnier than any comedy videos I watched recently. Hah.. a scam selling something legitimate.

[@webbster64B]

the joys if using a chromium based browser and reason not to use anything based of chromium

[@Wahinies]

Thats funny because mcafee comes out of the box as adware. After the trial on a preinstalled machine ends, what happens? Popups about being unprotected. Intel was unwise to buy it but a little smarter for having spun it off.

[@xpower7125]

oh my god

[@DioBrando_Sama]

At thsi point we should start using Blackspotted PCs and Phones tbh. I'd rather have a less 'worldopen' phone than a totally puplicly connected virus host 💀💀

[@getthepartystarted1247]

I don't get any of those notifications because I use Windows 7 :)

[@rakly3473]

I think it's more malicious than just affiliate revenue share. It's very likely while you subscribe for the real product these scammers are also getting your information. Making them able to be even more targeted in their "support" callcenter scams. Now they might already know the person's name, email, payment info. Maybe even get you to install a fake version of the AV software. Which would give them far more control over the victim's system than a screen sharing app.

[@PaulCarmona]

A scam within a scam that is macfee and Norton

[@velo1337]

does this only work when the user has admin rights?

[@ilike2burnthing]

Just a heads up for anyone facing this and actually wants to do something about it. Contact McAfee's chat support and say you want to report one of their official affiliates for using malicious or deceptive practices, such as fake 'virus detected' popups, and then provide them with all relevant links. They will then (apparently) deal with the issue as appropriate, but due to data protection you will not be informed of the outcome (that's pretty standard).

[@amashjaque6739]

This has been happening for at least 6 months off and on. PC repair shop

[@r8gg]

There's an insane amount of dodgy popup ads that leave straight to buy mcafee. (real mcafee)

[@TheRykung]

notification api is really annoying. people should be more aware before just clicking allow on every site lol

[@optimumplatinum2640]

they know how bad it is that they decided to just let mcafee do the work for them

[@Graham6410]

I probably wouldn't buy McAfee even if scammers wanted me to.

[@kobusdowney5291]

That's hilarious! Mcafee and Norton are scam antivirus by themselves...😂

[@tomweig]

Are these the real manufacturers who issue the fake message to get customers?

[@davidnewhart2533]

My Mcafee just expired today. Should I renew it? Edit: I have Webroot as well. It hasn't expired yet. Is Webroot alone worth it? My computer has been well protected with these two.

[@Fratello2466]

AdGuard won't even allow redirects via affiliate links. LOL.

[@Dall_]

What if its someone doing this to harm the person who has the afiiliate with mcafee? Like a third party just to troll

[@ZoTrAcK]

Alphabet had been accepting ad money from such bad actors and for so long that for me now, ANY company loose reputation when it advertise on Alphabet's services. Hopefully at some point legit companies will become aware that they loose reputation advertising on Alphabet.

[@aartezz4212]

Hate McAfee. It's absolutely the worst antivirus you can buy. And they are doing this... And samaung has McAfee integrated in their phones 😂😂

[@ghostdragon2593]

Thankfully the trash isn't enabled by default

[@anywaytechreview]

samsung phone do not come with mcafee maybe your store has installed it on your phone

[@aartezz4212]

@anywaytechreview nono It's not app. Samsung has built-in settings something like a scanner or antivirus. It says that it's using McAfee technology. And under it, you can click on the link, where it will redirect you on the McAfee website to buy their product....

[@anywaytechreview]

@@aartezz4212 you mean samsung knox? that has nothing to do with mcafee years ago, that was true but nowadays samsung is busy replacing non samsung stuff with samsung own apps

[@Reynardfoox]

Rogue AV is back???? 💀

[@piggycrew]

You can remove Microsoft Edge

[@mydyingdream]

McAfee always seems shady to me.

[@D.von.N]

I thought McAfee is now Trellix?

[@gustavrider5561]

Thats like a double scam

[@Roger-ho7ld]

Ok, so, essentially, this isn't actually a virus... it's just notifications??? Nothing to worry about? An Adblock would help against this? Asking cause my mother woke me up yesterday, almost having a heart attack cause her pc was ''under attack'' and i saw those pop ups, ran her microsoft defender and it didn't show me anything... so I had the idea of cleaning her entire browser of cookies and other stuff and suddenly the problem stopped.

[@WillDoesTech]

7:35 voice crack

[@ThankfullyAbusive]

Who uses mcafee anyways

[@ThatLinuxDude]

"how is nobody looking into this?" Enderman:

[@raxwdw4867]

I am actually more surprised about your video than the rest. In case you have never came across this before, I can tell you that I remember these techniques being used since windows 95 and yes by the same companies. The difference is that Back then no laws were in place so you couldn't really complain to anyone. and youtube didn't exist. LOL