Westfield Man Bilked Out Of $12K by Fake McAfee Antivirus Vendor

WESTFIELD, NJ — A Westfield man told police earlier this month that he was bilked out of $12,000 trying to protect himself from viruses — computer viruses, that is.

Police said that on Sept. 10, a man told them that an unknown person emailed him claiming to work for McAfee Antivirus. The scammer claimed there was an outstanding balance on the man's account and asked for his personal information. The scammer also asked for remote access to the man's computer. The victim provided personal information.

The scammer or scammers then fraudulently withdrew $7,399.00 from the man's bank account, police said. Besides providing personal information to scammers, the victim also bought $4,500 in gift cards to help pay his supposed bill for McAfee Antivirus service.

Thus, the total loss was $11,899.99.

Police are investigating the fraud.

It's The Scam Of The Day

Various news sources have reported since this past spring about the "McAfee phishing scam" and similar "phishing scams" in which an email fishes for someone's personal information.

One website called the McAfee scam the "Scam of the Day" for June 25, 2021.

The McAfee company itself warns people to avoid phishing emails, but uses as an example, "You get an email from bank0famerica@acc0unt.com claiming that they have found suspicious activity on your credit card statement and are requesting that you verify your financial information. What do you do?"

They note, "While you may be tempted to click on a link to immediately resolve the issue, this is likely the work of a cybercriminal. Phishing is a scam that tricks you into voluntarily providing important personal information. Protect yourself from phishing by reviewing some examples of phishing emails and learning more about this common online scam."

Often, one can tell a phishing scam because the return email address isn't for the company cited, but a long, complicated address.

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