McAfee
Reviews and Complaints

Purchased 2 McAfee total protection two months ago. Not being computer savvy, I was told it covered all areas of internet and related security. After paying nearly $160.00 I had yet another virus "V9" attacking and taking over my browser. I phoned McAfee support and was referred to a 3rd party company, who charged me yet another $250.00 to ad malware/adware for a one year supscription for only one computer (I have 4). Two days later the same virus showed up again, at times blacking out my computer. I phoned today again - another 3rd party connection willing to help me for $299.00. I told him that I had spend nearly $800.00 within one year and I might as well get rid of the computers (two are new) and purchase a MAC . Before I knew it the guy I talked to hung up. The interesting part is that McAfee messages me every other day that my system was secure. No problems were detected. What in the heck did I buy, where is the company support. I am very busy and can't sit day after day on my computer to wait for a technician for hrs to work my system. Only to tell me that McAfee doesn't cover malware or adware and I have to purchase yet another program for $250.00 I suspect this is a scam, and shame on McAfee, I'm sure I'm not the first or only having a similar complaint.

MY CURRENT MCAFEE SUBSCRIPTION TOTAL PROTECTION EXPIRE 11/29/2014. I ALSO HAVE A FREE INTERNET ANTIVIRUS THAT CAME WITH MY AT& T INTERNET PLAN FOR ONLINE AT&T.NET SERVICES. MY MCAFEE SUBSCRIPTION PURCHASE WITH MY DELL.COM CREDIT CARD WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED UNDER ANOTHER SERIAL NUMBER. I HAVE BEEN HAVING NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH SITE ADVISOR INTERRUPTING ME HOLDING AND MOVING THE ARROW CONSTANTLY WHILE I AM ONLINE. SITE ADVISOR COMPROMISE MY PASSWORD, ENGAGE IN STALKING, MONITORING, BODILY HARM, CHANGE PERSONAL AND UPDATE INFO AND SCHEDULE. SUSPICIOUS MCAFEE LOCATION NEARBY IN COMMUNITY NEAR 90TH ASHLAND IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS BUILDING AND CONNECTING COMPUTERS TO ILLEGAL MCAFEE NETWORKS. UNKNOWN SUSPECT IS BREACHING INFORMATION TO NEIGHBORS ABOUT BANK ACTIVITIES AND ALARM AT ABOVE ADDRESS. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT [protected]. I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE ABOUT INVESTIGATING ABOVE ALLEGATIONS.t

Purchased MacAfee 2 weeks ago.
Today, I had unwanted pop-ups on my pc.After speaking with the rep at McAfee I was told that pop-ups are not a virus.Per the customer rep - because I had downloaded a software/Visio with a recommended install rather than customized; unknowingly I had given permission to these pop-ups.MacAfee offered to help but with a charge of nearly 180 dollars of yearly subscription or one time fee of $ 69.95 because per the customer rep; even though I had new windows pop-up on my pc ; these were not viruses? Being frustrated I asked for a refund- After all, the reason for purchasing a virus protection was to keep my pc from being slow, or keep away from pop-ups (What I hoped from virus protecting software like McAfee to provide) - but I was told that it is not a Virus and therefore I will be charged another 180 dollars a yearly cost for the clean up or a one time fee of $69.99. Is this absurd or was I asking for too much?

Irritated by not receiving the assistance of cleaning my PC I asked to get my refund of $45.00 that I paid to be a member of McAfee- I was transferred to a customer rep. Here I am told that because this product was purchased online and being that McAfee is partnering with a partner! I couldn't cancel with them. I was provided a different number to for cancelling. McAfee might have be prestigious or might still be for some people but above is my experience and I am taking a break before the I call the new number provided to receive my refund.

How about just cleaning the pop-ups/viruses- what McAfee is known for rather than trying to sell more products?

McAfee Customer Service scam

I don't know anything about Windows computers. I called McAfee when their anti-virus software was unable to install in my computer. After an hour on the phone with their call center (staffed by South Asians), they were unable to figure out why. They said they needed to schedule a 'higher level' technician to call back in 24 hours.
A South Asian technician called back and spent 4 hours in a 'remote access' session with the computer trying to fix the problem. She ended the session by saying that I had to contact the manufacturer of the computer to solve the problem, whatever that means. It turns out she didn't work for McAfee.
Further phone calls to McAfee were made, and they informed me that I would need to contact the software developers that made AVG software, because their software was preventing the McAfee anti-virus software from installing. This turned out to be untrue according to the technician who fixed the problem later.
I contacted GuruAid, as a search engine query listed them as the top hit in my 'AVG' search. They did a remote session and after about an hour I was switched to a 'supervisor' who told me that the computer was infected and did I want to pay $120 for a one-time fix, $179.99 for a year's service, or $300 for two years service? I decided on a year's service, and gave them my credit card info and permission to charge me.
Four hours later, technicians were still working on the problem. I wrote to them during the ongoing chat session that I was going away from the computer, and gave them my phone number so they could call me if they needed anything from me. After a few more hours I got a phone call.
It was a South Asian male voice on the phone, and he was alarmed. "Your computer is highly infected, it's sending out signals that it is in trouble" said the man. He said he worked for "the people who guarantee your computer's software", and when I disbelievingly asked him how long the warranty on my 'computer's software' was, he said ten years. He refused to say how he got my phone number, and said he worked for a company called IT solutions. I hung up on him.
He called back again after a few minutes and convinced me to do a few things with the keyboard, pressing 'R' and the 'Windows Flag' key together and typing some commands into a box. These results he described to me as evidence that more than a dozen hackers had taken control of my machine. He had me type in other text and showed me the 'Registry' which he told me had more than a thousand infected items. He said that they were replicating themselves. Then he put me on hold so I could speak to his supervisor. According to the local technician who fixed the computer later, this was all nonsense. But it scared me.
Well, his supervisor said that as the company that 'runs the operating system' on my computer he was very concerned, and that it would cost $208 to fix the operating system on my computer. I asked this if this was additional to the $179.99 that I was being charged by GuruAid. He didn't know anything about GuruAid. I told him that they are the ones that gave him my phone number. I ended the chat session with GuruAid. I ended the chat session with McAfee (which the GuruAid technician had initiated). I hung up the phone, called VISA and notified them I'd like to cancel the charge. They said that while the charge was pending, I had to contact GuruAid directly and have them remove the charge. The toll free number that VISA gave me for GuruAid went directly to an answering machine. I shut down the computer and called a local technician, who came over and fixed the problems and cleaned up the machine. There were no 'hackers inside the machine'. When he ran the McAfee virus scan, it did not detect any viruses.
I'll be calling VISA when the charge from GuruAid posts, and canceling it.
Here's the takeaway: McAfee pays South Asian call centers to provide incompetent customer service. These call centers run a scam where instead of fixing simple problems (that a local technician I hired after this experience fixed in an hour) they refer unsatisfied McAfee customers to other incompetent (or criminal?) companies staffed by South Asians that tell them that their computers have big problems, scaring them, and then ripping these McAfee customers off by charging them for unnecessary service they cannot even provide if they wanted to. In my case they tried to cheat me and get money from me twice! All because McAfee has made a business decision - it doesn't care about retail customers, has paid an incompetent call center to represent the company and is uninterested in regulating their sub contractors based outside of the USA.

Buyer Beware! When you purchase a Dell laptop with pre-loaded McAfee antivirus software (with a free trial period), Dell will provide your credit card information to McAfee. When the free trial expires, McAfee with automatically charge your card.

Before my 15 month free trial period for McAfee was up, I purchased ESETNOD and deleted McAfee antivirus from my Dell laptop. McAfee still charged me a renewal fee. My credit card company and I phoned McAfee and called them on their scam. Subsequent to the call, on the same day, McAfee sent me two emails; one confirming they cancelled the auto-renewal, and the other confirming they would take the charge off my credit card.

I never purchased McAfee products directly, nor did I EVER provide them with my credit card information, Shame on Dell for such deviant practices and partnerships. It is no secret that McAfee puts out an inferior product, which is why they have to stoop to such low levels. From my research, Dell and McAfee are no strangers to SEC investigations. They can only get away with it for a short time though, like all bad companies.

A class action lawsuit is in order to stop this type of egregious business practice. This kind of corporate misbehavior gives capitalism a bad name.

see previous submission.. phone locked..mcafee to stupid to know the are trying to email my pin number to [protected] email address [protected]@gmail.com which is the phone they have locked me out of..gave them alternate email address hot.[protected]@bigpond.com pamela turner..all they did was then put robot technician on who advised nothing wrong found.. of course not..its my bloody phone i want unlocked so i can swap it for my grand daughters phone sr1199304310 sr119929273 are the reports i have put in...pamela turner

McAfee have taken an unauthorised direct debit from my account, details of which i never gave them since the protection came with my computer. They did this without any warning that renewal was due. i was not going to continue with McAfee as i am not happy with the product at all. I am extremely unhappy with this company and as usual they make it as difficut as possible to actually contact them. i will never use this company again.

I used McAfee years ago and then completely cancelled my subscription about 4 years ago. I purchased their computer security suite... virus protection, etc. using my credit card. 2 years ago they charged me about $80 for an "automatic renewal" as they call it. I called and complained. They refunded the money. Last year I was deployed so I am now going to have to go back and double check my credit card records to make sure they didn't do the same thing last year... BECAUSE they just charged my credit card again for $26.45. I never ordered anything but they just keep charging away. I tried to sign in to their web site with my very old user name and password and it says my password is wrong, to many attempts (i only tried one time) and that I'm locked out. So I call them and some strong foreign accent guy wants my credit card number, full name, address, email address and phone number. Are you freaking kidding me?
DO NOT PURCHASE MCAFEE IN ANY WAY, FOR ANY REASON! RUN! Everyone wants my money. They want yours too. Don't do it. Simply stay away from McAfee!

I went to McAfees website in January 2013 and downloaded protection for 1 year and for 1-3 computers for 29.99. After I entered my credit card information they charged my card 49.99 and sent me a rebate form but there was no advertisement for a rebate. The download did not work and when I contacted technical support they said I would have to pay 69.99 for them to remove my prior anti-virus program and install there's. Pass! So I downloaded the program onto my lap top and in April I contact them about my rebate they tried to say I was not eligible and after about 7 back and forth e-mails they determined I was and told me I had to wait until June to receive the 20.00 rebate that I did not agree on in the first place. The other two downloads do not work and for extra money they will resend the other 2 downloads for them to work. Basically, they overcharged me 20.00 and do not want to give it back, sold me 1 download when advertised up to 3 and now in May 2013 they are sending me alerts that say my protection is almost up and its only been three months and I purchased a whole year. The whole experience was terrible.

CITIBANK INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK
DIRECTOR, FOREIGN OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
ADDRESS: 87-11 QUEENS BLVD.ELMHURST,
NY, UNITED STATES 11373
 
OUR REF: CTBNYUS/BBU
DATE: 03/07/2013
 
FROM DESKTOP OF MR. JEFF PETERSON
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
E-MAIL:[protected]@aol.com
 
ATTENTION BENEFICIARY
 
 
It is my modest obligation to write you this letter as regards the Authorization of your owed payment through our most respected financial institution (Citibank). I am Mr. Jeff Peterson, the Chief Executive Officer, foreign operations Department Citibank of New York, the British Government in Conjunction with us government, World Bank, united Nations Organization on foreign Payment matters has empowered my bank after much consultation and consideration to handle all foreign payments and release them to their appropriate beneficiaries with the help of a Representative from Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
 
as the newly appointed/accredited international paying bank, we have been instructed by the world governing body together with the committee on international debt reconciliation department to release your overdue funds with immediate effect; with this exclusive vide transaction no.: wha/eur/202, transfer allocation no.:  citibank/x44/701ln/wgb/gb, password: 339331, pin code: 78569, immediate Citibank secret code: xxtn014.having received these vital payment numbers, you are instantly qualified to receive and confirm your payment with us within the next 96hrs.
 
Be informed that we have verified your payment file as directed to us and your name is next on the list of our outstanding fund beneficiaries to receive their payment. Be advised that because of too many funds beneficiaries, you are entitled to receive the sum of fourteen million three hundred thousand us dollars  (14, 300, 000.00 USD dollars) only, as part payment so as to enable us pays other eligible beneficiaries.
 
To facilitate with the process of this transaction, please kindly re-confirm the following information below:
 
 
1) Your Full Name:
2) Your Full Address:
 
3) Your Contact Telephone and Fax No:
3) Your Profession, Age and Marital Status:
4) Any Valid Form of Your Identification/Driven License:
5) Bank Name:
6) Bank Address:
 
7) Account Name:
8) Account Number:
 
9) Swift Code:
10) Routing Number:
 
 
As soon as we receive the above mentioned information, your payment will be processed and released to you without any further delay. This notification email should be your confidential property to avoid impersonators claiming your fund. You are required to provide the above information for your transfer to take place through bank to bank transfer directly from Citibank.
 
We Look Forward To Serving You Better.
 
MR. JEFF PETERSON,
(CEO)CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                                                 (COPYRIGHT © 2012 CITIGROUP INC.)

Do not (repeat: DO NOT!) provide McAfee or partner DELL with any of your personal details, do not do McAfee project registering. I got charged annually and automatically by McAfee for an eight year old Dell laptop, initially I had signed up for five years McAfee protection - a reasonable lifespan for a Dell. The Dell was no longer with me, yet I still paid. I send an inquiry and never got a reply by McAfee. Yes, I literally had to change my credit card details to get them to stop. Refund, forget it, I paid until Dec 2012 on a computer bought in 2004. What was worse the McAfee, "we will take your money, no questions asked" renewal come at full price, over a 100 USD, by the time their online offer already comes at a 40-70% discounted price! Any answers from McAfee support: NO They have shown no support. In fact it is difficult to get any information on how to contact McAfee. I am still registered, prompted to update by McAfee for the lost Dell, there is no link explaining me how to unregister, and no one to contact or reply. Please do something! This is freaking me out: my privacy, my hard earned money, my life!

Check your credit card statements religiously! While doing tax preparation research, I found a McAfee charge for $73.58 for auto-renewal of their anti-virus software dating back to Nov. '12. I called customer support and got them to stop the auto-renewal, but was unable to get them to budge on a refund, even though it's a computer I no longer use. I asked them to transfer the service to my Mac Book Pro, but they would only offer me a 50% discount, which I declined. I asked for the email of non-renewal to be sent while I was on the phone with them, which they did. If you call within a 60-day window of the charge, you can get the charge reversed, but I missed that window. This company is bad news, just like it's founder!

Sir, i have renewed my anti virus subscription on 21/12/1 2 order no C S [protected]. Still my computer is not protected and You are sending messages to renew the subscription.
I wrote a complaint 12 hrs back and no response from you.
What kind of services an International company like you offering ? Do you take 3 days to renew an on line subscription ? Then what is the meaning of online ? And who is responsible if my Laptop gets infected ?

Even though I do not have automatic renewal and my downloaded products are well out of date, I have been debited against an old credit card that has expired by McAfee. Is this fraud? How many other people is this happening to who do not realize?

an unauthorized charge of $85.39 appeared on my bank statement from McAfee. I called customer service number 866.622.3911. I was informed that no charge or renewal of service appeared on my account and no one knew how to remove something that they couldn't show.appearing on the account. I have not had McAfee on my computer for about 10 months. I did not renew nor authorize a
charge to be made. This is a scam...beware...

My Windows 7 machine was recently infected with the "ZeroAccess" trojan. I have McAfee Total Protection installed on my machine. I have put up with Total Protection's pigginess (CPU hog which slows my machine) during scanning for several years in the hope it was protecting me from all of the nasty viruses, trojan and spyware we live with in today's environment of jerks and criminals on the internet. Well, the simple fact is McAfee Total Protection FAILED. It did not stop the infection. It did not perform the task I paid for. It is not worth the money and even more it did not do what it promised, exposing me to a rather insidious trojan. I have had McAfee on my machine for several years and it rarely finds anything. I am very cautious and do not go to web sites that usually cause problems. This time, when I needed McAfee, it FAILED miserably. I only got rid of the trojan by wiping my hard drive and reinstalling everything from backup which I can and did do myself. (Notice I am the type of user who is constantly backing my data.) When I called McAfee they didn't flinch about their software being incapable of dealing with "ZeroAccess". The person on the phone (after a 30 minute wait time) was obviously not qualified to do anything other than try to get me to contract through McAfee for an outside consultant to wipe my hard drive for a considerable extra fee.

Had this for not quite a year & recently it started to give me a weird error message. So I contacted the idiots online chat and he went thru it several times and make a long story short after over an hour he came back and said that it was a Master Tech's issue that I would have to call a "premium" number to get help! I shouldn't have because my subscription isn't up. Also, after finishing with "it" I went on my email, in which he went in & changed all my settings & all after saying nothing would be effected. I am really mad that this person who reps this company messed up my email when not authorized. Isn't that illegal & some sort of class action taken against this person even though it was authorized for his help! Do NOT purchase this software, it doesn't work well anyway & now this!

constantly being pestered to renew with mcafee, telling me i am at risk! This is absolute nonsense ! I have all my paperwork regarding the product & it does not expire until 7th Dec 2012 .I have tried my card no from whom i purchased the product (staples) & am being told the product has already been downloaded . It is very difficult & frustrating trying to get someone to help! When i am in the middle of research up comes mcafee & it is driving me mad !
Details Invoice no ebs125105.Item [protected]. Mcafee Internet Security 2012 . 1year 1pc. Total £6.75.
I hope & pray you can help me. Many Thanks Mrs Anne Impey.

McAfee came with the computer. I didn't like it, so I didn't renew the subscription and it expired roughly 130 days ago. But it's still here, messing with my computer. It's blocked sites that I like going to, I have to access them elsewhere. Thankfully, nothing important for work yet, but it's really only a matter of time. It WON'T LET ME delete the program files, and I can't find an uninstall anywhere. I need it gone. McAfee rep, who I damn well hope sees this, this is YOUR software, which I DON'T want, and it's messing with MY life. FIX IT.