How to protect yourself from AI scams — McAfee+ combines AI-powered scam protection, antivirus, VPN, and more
TL;DR: McAfee+ is on sale for $89.99 for your first year. This limited-time offer saves you $110 on the list price.
In 2026, antivirus software is an absolute must. In fact, we’ll go one step further and say you need to be thinking beyond just regular antivirus software. This is the age of AI-powered scamming, and every day internet users — that means pretty much all of us — are vulnerable to all kinds of bad faith actors and online conmen.
Indeed, AI has raised the game with deepfakes, phishing, and other tricks designed to target your personal and financial details. Fortunately, there’s a solution to protecting yourself in 2026 — and one that will actually save you money.
McAfee, one of the top names in online protection, has launched an AI-powered scam-protection feature called Scam Detector, which integrates with McAfee’s award-winning antivirus, identity monitoring, privacy tools, VPN, and financial protection as part of the straightforward, easy-to-use McAfee+ Individual and Family plans.
You can save up to $110 on a yearly individual plan when you sign up for the McAfee+ Advanced tier, which costs just $89.99 for the first year, down from $199.99. You can also save up to $150 when you opt for the family plan, which covers six family members for $119.99 — down from $269.99. As an added bonus, all plans are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Your protection plan will pay off in the long run. McAfee research found that Americans are bombarded with an average of 14 scam messages every day, resulting in almost 114 hours per year spent trying to determine what’s real and what’s fake online. The research also found that one in three Americans has lost money to online scammers, losing an average of $1,160.
McAfee’s Scam Detector is the antivirus equivalent of fighting fire with fire. In the battle against sophisticated AI scams, it uses its own AI to identify scams before they have a chance to impact you. It does by automatically identifying suspicious texts, emails, deepfake videos, and social media DMs — as well as identifying risky sites — and providing you with warnings.
It also includes a QR code safety check. This combats one of the new ways scammers are targeting unsuspecting people: QR codes that send an increasing number of people to untrustworthy sites.
The great news is that Scam Detector is included across McAfee’s core plans at no extra cost. Whatever plan you sign up for, McAfee Scam Detector has your back.
Sign up for McAfee+ with Scam Detector and save up to $110 on a yearly individual plan.
