Many of us rely on customer support websites for navigating new technology. Whether it’s installing a new piece of software or troubleshooting a computer program, we look to customer support to save the day. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are leveraging our reliance on customer support pages to access our personal information for financial gain. It appears that a malicious website is attempting to trick users into handing over their McAfee activation keys and personally identifiable information (PII) data by disguising themselves as the official McAfee customer support website.
So how exactly does this cyberthreat work? First, malicious actors advertise the fake website on Twitter. If a user clicks on the ad, they are presented with a “Download McAfee” button. When the user clicks on the download button, they are redirected to a screen prompting them to enter their name, email address, contact number, and product activation key to proceed with the download. However, when the user clicks on the “Start Download” button, they are redirected to a screen stating that their download failed due to an unexpected error.
At this point, the site owner has received the user’s personal data, which they could exploit in a variety of ways. And while this scheme may seem tricky to spot, there are a number of ways users can defend themselves from similar scams:
- Be vigilant when clicking on social media links. Although it may be tempting to click on advertisements on your social media feed, these ads could possibly house sketchy websites developed by cybercriminals. Use caution when interacting with social media ads.
- Go straight to the source. If you come across an advertisement claiming to be from a company and the link asks for personal data, it’s best to go directly to the company’s website instead. Use the official McAfee customer support page if you require technical support or assistance with your McAfee product.
- Use security software. A security solution like McAfee WebAdvisor can help you spot suspicious websites and protect you from accidentally clicking on malicious links.
And, as always, to stay on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, be sure to follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable? and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.