You’re browsing the internet when suddenly a big red alert pops up:
“Attention! Built-in Antivirus Has Detected a Threat!”
The warning uses the McAfee logo, looks professional, and urges you to click a button like “Check my PC” or “Remove Threat Now.” The page may even list fake virus names such as Trojan.Gen.2, Russian Trojan, or Ransomware (High Risk). At that moment, panic sets in—you don’t want your personal files, banking details, or photos stolen.
But here’s the truth: this pop-up is a scam. McAfee does not randomly scan your computer through your browser and will never display virus warnings in this way. These pop-ups are designed by scammers to trick you into clicking dangerous links, handing over your payment information, or even downloading malware.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the McAfee “Built-in Antivirus Has Detected a Threat” scam, how it operates, and what to do if you’ve fallen victim.
Scam Overview
The McAfee “Built-in Antivirus Has Detected a Threat” pop-up scam is part of a widespread cybercrime tactic called scareware. Scammers try to frighten users into believing their devices are infected, then push them into buying fake antivirus subscriptions or providing personal details.
1. The Illusion of Legitimacy
- Scammers use the McAfee brand name, logo, and colors to mimic real antivirus alerts.
- The pop-ups often look highly professional, which lowers suspicion.
- Victims assume the alert comes from their antivirus software or Windows security center.
2. Common Fake Alerts Used
The scam doesn’t use just one message—it rotates several frightening alerts to maximize success. Examples include:
- “Built-in Antivirus Has Detected a Threat!”
- “Your Antivirus Protection Has Expired”
- “Hidden Threat Monitoring Mode: Someone is watching your PC”
- “7 Viruses Detected on Your Computer – Renew Now to Remove Them.”
These messages are fabricated. No website can perform an antivirus scan of your system.
3. Technical Red Flags
- Suspicious URLs – instead of
mcafee.com, scam domains often look likemcafreenet.com,protectscan.xyz, or random gibberish links. - Grammar issues – while many scam pages look polished, closer inspection reveals awkward phrasing or spelling mistakes.
- Fake urgency – countdown timers, “limited-time discounts,” or threats like “Hackers can steal your bank details right now”.
4. How Victims Encounter the Scam
Victims usually see these fake alerts when:
- Visiting streaming sites, pirated content pages, or adult sites with shady ads.
- Clicking on spam email links claiming to be from McAfee or Windows Security.
- Allowing browser push notifications from unsafe websites.
5. The Real Purpose
The scam has two main objectives:
- Financial theft – tricking victims into entering credit card details on fake checkout pages.
- Malware distribution – pushing downloads of “antivirus tools” that are actually trojans or spyware.
6. Why It Works
This scam is effective because it exploits human psychology:
- Fear of losing data or being hacked.
- Urgency created by countdowns and fake virus lists.
- Authority of the McAfee brand, which is well-known and trusted.
By combining fear with brand impersonation, scammers can push even cautious users into quick, irrational decisions.
How the Scam Works
To understand the mechanics of the scam, let’s walk through the typical attack sequence.
Step 1: The Hook
The user is exposed to the scam through:
- Clicking a malicious ad.
- Visiting a compromised or shady website.
- Receiving a spam email with a malicious link.
Immediately, the browser redirects to a fake McAfee page with a scanning animation.
Step 2: Fake Scan Simulation
The page pretends to run a scan of the victim’s system. It shows:
- Animated progress bars.
- “Files scanned” counters.
- Fake virus names like Trojan.Gen.2 or Worm.AutoRun.PY.
Reality check: websites cannot scan your local files or memory. This is 100% scripted theater to build urgency.
Step 3: Fear-Based Alerts
Once the fake scan “finishes,” a red warning appears:
- “7 Viruses Found!”
- “Your Antivirus Has Expired”
- “Hackers are watching you via remote access.”
The scam escalates fear by using specific, scary-sounding malware names. It also shows fake consequences like:
- Hackers cloning your bank cards.
- Blackmail with your personal photos.
- Loans being taken out in your name.
Step 4: Call to Action
The victim is pushed to click a button:
- “Remove Threat Now”
- “Activate My Protection”
- “Renew with 55% Discount”
This button leads to one of two destinations:
- A legitimate McAfee checkout page through an affiliate link (scammers earn commission).
- A fake checkout form that steals payment information.
Step 5: Data Harvesting
On the fake forms, users are asked for:
- Full name.
- Email address.
- Billing address.
- Credit/debit card details.
This data is then stolen and either used directly for fraud or sold on the dark web.
Step 6: Continued Exploitation
If the victim entered details:
- Recurring unauthorized charges appear on their card.
- Email inbox is flooded with more scams.
- Browser notifications keep spamming fake alerts until manually disabled.
If the victim downloaded malware:
- Hackers may install keyloggers to steal passwords.
- The PC could become part of a botnet.
- Sensitive files may be exfiltrated.
What to Do if You Have Fallen Victim to the Scam
If you’ve interacted with the McAfee pop-up scam, don’t panic. There are concrete steps you can take to protect yourself.
- STEP 1: Uninstall malicious programs from Windows
- STEP 2: Reset browsers back to default settings
- STEP 3: Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to remove malware and unwanted programs
- STEP 4: Use HitmanPro to scan your computer for badware
- STEP 5: Use AdwCleaner to remove adware and malicious browser policies
STEP 1: Uninstall malicious programs from Windows
In this first step, we will manually check if any unknown or malicious programs are installed on the computer. Sometimes adware and browser hijackers can have a usable Uninstall entry that can be used to remove them.
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Open the Settings app
Press Windows + I on your keyboard to open Settings. Alternatively, right-click the Start button and select “Settings” from the menu.
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Go to “Installed apps”
In the Settings window, click “Apps” in the sidebar, then select “Installed apps“.
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Find and uninstall the malicious program
Scroll through the list of installed apps and look for anything suspicious — a program you don’t remember installing, or one with a strange or generic name.
Quick tip: click “Sort by” and choose “Date installed“. Malware is usually one of the most recently installed programs, so it will appear near the top.
When you find the malicious program, click the three dots next to it and select “Uninstall“.
Didn’t find any suspicious programs? That’s fine — not all infections install visible apps. Just continue with the next step in this guide. -
Complete the uninstall
Confirm by clicking Uninstall in the message box, then follow the remaining prompts.
Read each prompt carefully — some malicious programs use confusing wording or pre-ticked boxes hoping you’ll click through without looking.
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Open the Settings app
Press Windows + I on your keyboard to open Settings. Alternatively, click the Start button on the taskbar and select “Settings” (the gear icon).
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Click on “Apps”
In the “Windows Settings” window, click “Apps“. The “Apps & Features” section should open by default — if it doesn’t, select it from the list on the left.
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Find and uninstall the malicious program
Scroll through the list of installed apps and look for anything suspicious — a program you don’t remember installing, or one with a strange or generic name.
Quick tip: click “Sort by” and choose “Install date“. Malware is usually one of the most recently installed programs, so it will appear near the top.
When you find the malicious program, click on it and select “Uninstall“.
Didn’t find any suspicious programs? That’s fine — not all infections install visible apps. Just continue with the next step in this guide. -
Complete the uninstall
Confirm by clicking Uninstall in the message box, then follow the remaining prompts.
Read each prompt carefully — some malicious programs use confusing wording or pre-ticked boxes hoping you’ll click through without looking.
With the malicious programs removed, you’re ready for the next step in this guide.
STEP 2: Reset browsers back to default settings
In this step, we will remove spam notifications, malicious extensions, and change to default any settings that might have been changed by malware.
Please note that a Chrome or Edge reset turns off all your extensions, and a Firefox refresh removes them. Your bookmarks and favorites stay intact. For each browser that you have installed on your computer, please click on the browsers tab below and follow the displayed steps to reset that browser.
Reset Chrome for Windows to default settings
We will now reset your Chrome browser settings to their original defaults. This will reset your startup page, new tab page, search engine, and pinned tabs. It will also disable all extensions and clear temporary data like cookies. Your favorites, history, and saved passwords will not be cleared.
Open the Chrome menu
Open Google Chrome and click the three-dot (⋮) icon in the top-right corner.
Open Chrome Settings
Select Settings from the Chrome menu.
Select “Reset settings”
Look at the menu on the left side of the Settings page. Scroll down and click Reset settings.
Restore Chrome’s original settings
Click Restore settings to their original defaults.
Confirm the Chrome reset
A confirmation window will appear. Click Reset settings.
This will:
- Restore the default search engine, homepage, and new tab page
- Reset startup pages and pinned tabs
- Reset site permissions, such as notifications and pop-ups
- Disable installed extensions
- Clear temporary cookies and website data
Don’t worry: Chrome will not delete your bookmarks, browsing history, or saved passwords. If you’re signed in to Chrome, the reset applies on all devices where you’re signed in.
Restart Chrome and perform a test search. If your searches now open normally in Google, you can stop here.
If searches are still redirected through shady domains complete the additional step below.
Remove persistent search hijacker data
Only complete this step if the redirect continues after resetting Chrome.
Some browser hijackers hide inside Chrome’s local search-engine database. A standard Chrome reset may not remove this database, which is why searches can continue to pass through shady sites.
The following procedure creates a backup of the affected database and allows Chrome to build a new, clean version. This is safer and less disruptive than deleting the entire Chrome profile.
First, prevent Chrome Sync from restoring the hijacked settings:
- Open a new Chrome tab.
- Copy the following address, paste it into Chrome’s address bar, and press Enter:
chrome://settings/syncSetup/advanced - Under Manage what you sync, select Customize sync.
- Turn off Settings and Extensions.
- You can leave Bookmarks and Passwords enabled so your important data remains synchronized.
Note: Some newer Chrome versions may automatically redirect this address to the Google Account settings page. If that happens, locate the list of synchronized Chrome data and turn off Settings and Extensions there.
Now save anything you are working on and close every Chrome window.
Run the cleanup command:
- Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
- Type PowerShell.
- Open Windows PowerShell. Administrator access is not required.
- Copy the entire command shown below.
- Right-click inside the PowerShell window to paste the command, then press Enter.
- If Windows warns you about pasting multiple lines, select the option to continue.
$stamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss"
Get-Process chrome -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
Stop-Process -Force
$root = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Google\Chrome\User Data"
if (Test-Path $root) {
$profiles = Get-ChildItem $root -Directory |
Where-Object {
$_.Name -eq "Default" -or
$_.Name -match "^Profile \d+$"
}
foreach ($profile in $profiles) {
foreach ($name in @(
"Web Data",
"Web Data-journal",
"Web Data-wal",
"Web Data-shm"
)) {
$file = Join-Path $profile.FullName $name
if (Test-Path $file) {
$backup = "$file.search-hijacker-backup-$stamp"
Move-Item -LiteralPath $file -Destination $backup
Write-Host "Backup created: $backup"
}
}
}
}
Write-Host ""
Write-Host "Chrome search data has been cleaned."
Write-Host "You can now reopen Chrome."Wait until PowerShell displays the following message:
Chrome search data has been cleaned.
You can now reopen Chrome.
Close PowerShell and reopen Google Chrome. Chrome will automatically create a clean search database for every local profile.
Next, copy the following address, paste it into Chrome’s address bar, and press Enter:
chrome://settings/searchEngines
Make sure Google is selected as the default search engine. Test several searches from the address bar and confirm that they no longer pass through shady search engines.
Your important Chrome data is protected: the PowerShell cleanup does not remove bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, cookies, or installed extensions. However, it may reset locally stored Autofill addresses, payment cards saved only on this computer, and form suggestions.
The original search database is not deleted. PowerShell renames it and adds
search-hijacker-backupto its filename so it can be recovered if necessary.Keep Settings and Extensions synchronization disabled while testing Chrome. Do not enable every extension at once. Enable only the extensions you recognize, one at a time, and test Chrome after each one.
If the redirect returns after enabling a particular extension, remove that extension immediately.
Reset Firefox for Windows to default settings
We will now reset your Firefox browser settings to their default. The reset feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill information, browsing history, and open tabs.
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Open the Firefox menu and click “Help and Report”
Click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner of Firefox to open the main menu, then select “Help and Report“.
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Click “More troubleshooting information”
In the Help and Report menu, click “More troubleshooting information“.
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Click “Refresh Firefox”
On the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click the “Refresh Firefox” button in the “Give Firefox a tune up” box in the top-right area of the page.
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Confirm the refresh
In the confirmation window, click “Refresh Firefox” again. This removes extensions, themes, and customized settings — the usual hiding places for browser hijackers — while keeping your bookmarks, history, and saved passwords safe.
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Click “Finish”
Firefox will close, reset itself to default settings, and reopen with a window listing the information that was restored. Click “Finish“. Then test Firefox before you add back any extensions.
About the “Old Firefox Data” folder: Firefox saves a copy of your old profile on your desktop. If something you need is missing after the reset, you can recover it from this folder. Otherwise, delete the folder — it contains sensitive data like passwords and cookies, and may also still hold the malicious files you just removed.
Reset Microsoft Edge to default settings
We will now reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings to their default. This will reset your startup page, new tab page, search engine, and pinned tabs. It will also disable all extensions and clear temporary data like cookies. Your favorites, history, and saved passwords will not be cleared.
Updated for Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 and Windows 11 — July 2026.
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Open the Edge menu and click “Settings”
Open Microsoft Edge. In the top-right corner, click the three-dot (…) icon, then click Settings.
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Prevent the unwanted settings from returning through Edge Sync
If you are signed in to Microsoft Edge, a bad setting or extension may be stored in your Microsoft account and return after the reset.
Copy the following address, paste it into the Edge address bar, and press Enter:
edge://settings/profiles/syncOn the Sync page, turn off these two options:
- Settings
- Extensions
You can leave Favorites and Passwords turned on.
If Edge says that sync is already off, simply continue to the next step.
Important: Edge Sync settings are separate for each profile. If you use more than one Edge profile, switch to each affected profile and repeat this step.
You do not need to sign out of your Microsoft account or delete the Edge profile.
-
Open “Reset settings”
In the left sidebar, click Reset settings.
You can also open the reset page directly. Copy the following address, paste it into the Edge address bar, and press Enter:
edge://settings/reset
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Click “Restore settings to their default values”
Click Restore settings to their default values.
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Confirm the reset
In the confirmation dialog, click Reset.
This resets the startup page, new tab page, search engine, and pinned tabs. It also disables all extensions and clears temporary site data, such as cookies.
Don’t worry: your favorites, browsing history, and saved passwords will not be deleted.
-
Check your extensions before turning them back on
Copy the following address, paste it into the Edge address bar, and press Enter:
edge://extensionsRemove any extension you do not recognize or no longer use. Pay particular attention to extensions related to search, coupons, shopping, PDF conversion, browser protection, new tabs, or video downloading.
Do not turn all extensions back on at the same time. Enable only the extensions you recognize and trust.
-
Select a trusted search engine
Copy the following address, paste it into the Edge address bar, and press Enter:
edge://settings/searchEnginesSelect Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, or another search provider you trust and make it the default. This address opens the list of search engines; the default is set one page back, on Address bar and search, under Search engine used in the address bar.
Remove any unknown search engines from the list, especially providers with strange names or addresses that you did not add yourself: click More actions (…) next to the engine and remove it.
Restart Edge and perform a search from the address bar. If searches are no longer redirected, you can stop here.
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If the redirect remains, clean the corrupted search data without deleting the Edge profile
Use this additional step only if Edge continues to redirect searches after the normal reset.
This command cleans the search-engine database from every local Edge profile while keeping your favorites, saved passwords, browsing history, cookies, and profiles.
Before continuing: save anything you are working on because the command will close Microsoft Edge.
- Open the Windows Start menu.
- Type PowerShell.
- Open Windows PowerShell. Administrator access is not required.
- Copy the entire command below.
- Paste it into PowerShell and press Enter.
$stamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss" $root = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Microsoft\Edge\User Data" Get-Process -Name msedge -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue Start-Sleep -Seconds 2 if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $root)) { Write-Host "The Microsoft Edge profile folder was not found:" Write-Host $root return } $profiles = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $root -Directory | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "Default" -or $_.Name -match "^Profile \d+$" } $movedFiles = 0 foreach ($profile in $profiles) { foreach ($name in @( "Web Data", "Web Data-journal", "Web Data-wal", "Web Data-shm" )) { $file = Join-Path $profile.FullName $name if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $file) { $backup = "$file.search-reset-backup-$stamp" try { Move-Item -LiteralPath $file -Destination $backup -ErrorAction Stop Write-Host "Cleaned: $($profile.Name)\$name" $movedFiles++ } catch { Write-Warning "Could not clean: $file" } } } } Write-Host "" if ($movedFiles -gt 0) { Write-Host "Microsoft Edge search data has been cleaned." -ForegroundColor Green Write-Host "You can now reopen Microsoft Edge." } else { Write-Host "No Edge search database files were found." -ForegroundColor Yellow }The command does not permanently delete the original files. It renames them as backup files, and Edge creates a clean search database when it starts again.
Note: this additional cleanup may also reset saved form-fill suggestions, saved addresses, payment cards saved only on this computer, and manually added search engines. It does not delete favorites, passwords, or browsing history.
-
Reopen Edge and test the browser
Open Microsoft Edge again, visit edge://settings/searchEngines, and select your preferred search engine (one page back, on Address bar and search, under Search engine used in the address bar).
Perform several searches from the address bar to confirm that the redirect is gone.
Keep synchronization for Settings and Extensions turned off until you are certain that the computer and extensions are clean. If you enable them again, turn them on one at a time and test Edge after each change.
-
If Edge still redirects your searches
Open edge://policy. If this is your personal computer and Edge displays unknown policies such as ExtensionInstallForcelist or DefaultSearchProvider, the hijacker may be installed outside the browser profile.
In that situation, continue with the next malware-removal steps and run a complete antivirus scan. If the computer belongs to a company or school, contact its IT administrator before changing any policies.
STEP 3: Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to remove malware and unwanted programs
In this third step, we will install Malwarebytes to scan and remove any infections, adware, or potentially unwanted programs that may be present on your computer.
Malwarebytes is one of the most popular and trusted anti-malware tools for Windows — and it’s completely free for removing infections. It catches threats that many antivirus programs miss, including adware, browser hijackers, and trojans. Follow the steps below to scan your PC and remove what Malwarebytes finds.
Download Malwarebytes
Click the button below to download the latest version of Malwarebytes for Windows from the official source. The free version is all you need — it will scan your computer and remove adware, browser hijackers, and other malicious software at no cost.
Download MalwarebytesOfficial installer for Windows 11 and 10. Your download starts right away.Want real-time protection? See Malwarebytes Premium
Malwarebytes Free for WindowsScans and removes malware at no cost-
Install Malwarebytes
When the download finishes, open your Downloads folder and double-click the MBSetup file. If Windows shows a User Account Control pop-up, click “Yes” to allow the installation.
Follow the On-Screen Prompts to Install Malwarebytes
The setup wizard will walk you through a few quick screens:
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Choose where you’re installing the program — “Personal Computer” or “Work Computer” — then click Next.
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Malwarebytes will now install on your device. This usually takes under a minute.
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When installation is complete, the “Welcome to Malwarebytes” screen will open automatically.
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On the final screen, click Open Malwarebytes to launch the program.
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Optional: Check for rootkits with a Custom Scan
You don’t need to change any settings for a normal scan. The standard Threat Scan in the next step is enough for most problems, so you can go straight to it.
If you also want to check for rootkits, use a Custom Scan. In current versions of Malwarebytes, rootkit scanning is only available there:
- On the Scanner tile, click the three-dot menu and select Advanced Scan.
- Choose Custom Scan. In its options, check Scan for rootkits.
- Select your system drive (usually C:\) as the location to scan, then start the scan. It takes longer than a Threat Scan.
- When it finishes, review and quarantine the results as described in the steps below.
Rootkit scanning isn’t available on Windows devices with ARM processors.
Start the Scan
Click the blue Scan button. Malwarebytes will automatically update its virus database and start checking your computer for malware.
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Wait for the Scan to Finish
The scan checks your entire system for browser hijackers and other malicious programs, so it can take 5 to 20 minutes depending on your computer. Feel free to do something else — just check back occasionally to see the progress.
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Quarantine the Detected Threats
When the scan is done, you’ll see a list of everything Malwarebytes found — malware, adware, and potentially unwanted programs. Click the “Quarantine” button to remove all of them at once.
Malwarebytes will now remove the malicious files and registry entries and move them safely into quarantine.
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Restart Your Computer
Some threats can only be fully removed after a reboot. If Malwarebytes asks you to restart, click Yes. Once you’re logged back in, Malwarebytes has finished removing the threats it found.
STEP 4: Use HitmanPro to scan your computer for badware
In this next step, we will scan the computer with HitmanPro to check for any other malicious programs that may be installed on your device.
HitmanPro is a second-opinion scanner — it’s designed to catch what your main antivirus might have missed. Instead of relying on a single detection engine, it checks the behavior of files in the locations where malware usually hides. Anything suspicious is checked online, where it’s analyzed by several antivirus engines in HitmanPro’s Scan Cloud.
Good news: scanning is completely free, with no limits. You only need a license when it’s time to remove what was found — and even then, you can activate a free one-time 30-day trial to remove what it finds at no cost. The trial works once per computer. After that, removal needs a paid license, and the purchase screen shows the current price.
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Download HitmanPro
Click the button below to download HitmanPro. Remember — the scan is free, so you have nothing to lose by checking your PC.
Download HitmanProFree scan. Removing threats needs the free 30-day trial. Opens the official HitmanPro page in a new tab.
HitmanProSecond-opinion malware scanner from Sophos -
Install HitmanPro
When the download finishes, open your Downloads folder and double-click the file “hitmanpro_x64.exe”. (On 32-bit Windows 10, the file is named “hitmanpro.exe”.)
If a User Account Control pop-up asks whether HitmanPro can make changes to your device, click “Yes” to continue.
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Follow the On-Screen Prompts
On the HitmanPro start screen, click “Next” to begin the system scan. No lengthy setup required — it goes straight to work.
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Wait for the Scan to Finish
HitmanPro will now check your computer for malicious programs. This usually takes just a few minutes thanks to its cloud-based scanning.
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Review the Results and Click “Next”
When the scan is done, HitmanPro will show you everything it found. Click “Next” to remove the detected threats.
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Click “Activate Free License”
To remove the malicious files, click the “Activate free license” button. This starts your free 30-day trial — no payment details needed — and unlocks the full cleanup.
When the removal is complete, HitmanPro will show a summary of everything it cleaned. Click Next, then click Reboot if prompted. If there’s no reboot prompt, click Close. Then check whether the problems you noticed have stopped. If they come back, save the HitmanPro log and ask for help in our forum.
STEP 5: Use AdwCleaner to remove adware and malicious browser policies
In this final step, we will use AdwCleaner to remove the malicious browser policies that were set by browser hijackers on your computer and delete malicious browser extensions.
AdwCleaner is a free on-demand scanner that specializes in adware, browser hijackers, and unwanted toolbars — the exact threats that mainstream antivirus programs often miss. It also includes tools that repair the damage malware leaves behind, like hijacked browser settings and malicious policies. It’s a quick scan that’s well worth running.
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Download AdwCleaner
Click the button below to download AdwCleaner — it’s free, portable, and requires no installation.
Download AdwCleanerOpens the official download page in a new tab.
Malwarebytes AdwCleanerRemoves adware and unwanted programs at no cost -
Run AdwCleaner
Open your Downloads folder and double-click the file named “adwcleaner.exe“. There’s no installation — the program starts right away.
If Windows asks whether you want to allow AdwCleaner to run, click “Yes“. When the license agreement appears, click I agree to continue.
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Leave “Reset Chrome policies” off unless you need it
AdwCleaner can reset Chrome policies, the settings that malware sometimes uses to lock your browser so you can’t change it back. This option removes every Chrome policy, including legitimate ones set by an employer, a school, or parental-control software, so leave it off for a normal scan.
AdwCleaner applies this option only if you run Basic Repair at the end of the cleanup. Malwarebytes advises running Basic Repair only when a support agent asks you to, and it also runs every other repair action that is turned on in the same list. If this is your own personal PC and chrome://policy in Chrome lists policies you didn’t set, ask for help in our forum instead. On a work or school computer, ask the IT administrator.
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Start the Scan
Click “Dashboard” on the left side of the window, then click the “Scan Now” button.
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Wait for the Scan to Finish
AdwCleaner will now check your computer for adware and other malware. This usually takes only a few minutes — it’s one of the fastest scanners around.
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Quarantine the Detected Threats
When the scan finishes, AdwCleaner lists everything it found. Review the list and uncheck any program you installed on purpose and want to keep, then click Next. If AdwCleaner also found preinstalled software, it shows that list next. Review it the same way, then click “Quarantine“. Older versions show the Quarantine button on the first list, as in the image below.
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Click “Continue” to Finish the Cleanup
Save any open work first — AdwCleaner needs to close your open programs before it can clean. When you’re ready, click the “Continue” button.
AdwCleaner will now move the selected items to quarantine. If it asks you to restart your PC, allow it. When you’re back in Windows, AdwCleaner may offer a Basic Repair. Click Skip Basic Repair. Malwarebytes recommends running Basic Repair only when a support agent asks you to. Then check whether the problems you noticed have stopped.
The Bottom Line
The McAfee “Built-in Antivirus Has Detected a Threat” pop-up is nothing more than scareware and phishing combined. It’s designed to exploit fear, urgency, and brand trust to steal money and data.
Here’s what you need to remember:
- No website can scan your PC for viruses.
- McAfee does not show alerts through random browser pop-ups.
- If you see one of these alerts, close the tab immediately.
If you’ve already interacted with the scam:
- Cancel your card and report fraud.
- Run a legitimate antivirus scan.
- Remove any suspicious browser permissions.
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