By AppHub Editorial Team · Updated August 3, 2026
McAfee Security: Antivirus VPN
Overview
Tools
McAfee LLC
Free
May 30, 2011
$0.99 - $200.00 per item
No
Features
In today's digital world, knowing what's real and what's fake is more critical than ever. Introducing McAfee’s Scam Detector™ – your first line of defense against deceptive texts and emails.
Protect your new devices. McAfee+ delivers comprehensive, award-winning cybersecurity to shield your data and devices from viruses, malware, spyware and financial fraud. This powerful mobile security app combines advanced Antivirus, a private VPN, robust identity protection, and real-time cybersecurity aler...
In today's digital world, knowing what's real and what's fake is more critical than ever. Introducing McAfee’s Scam Detector™ – your first line of defense against deceptive texts and emails. Protect your new devices. McAfee+ delivers comprehensive, award-winning cybersecurity to shield your data and devices from viruses, malware, spyware and financial fraud. This powerful mobile security app combines advanced Antivirus, a private VPN, robust identity protection, and real-time cybersecurity alerts, all in one place. Email Protection flags risky emails and phishing attempts, and Text Scam Protection catches suspicious text messages before you click. Our automatic VPN ensures secure browsing with IP address encryption, while the network scanner and WiFi security verify connections to maintain your safety on public networks. McAfee+ delivers all-in-one protection to safeguard you from scammers, malware, suspicious activity and online threats. Includes scam detection and virus scanner, personal info removal from risky sites, identity theft monitoring, VPN, and more. FEATURESSCAM DETECTOR▪ Text scam protection filters risky messages and phishing attempts, and blocks harmful sites▪ Identify suspicious emails and get scam warnings with email scam protectionANTIVIRUS & VIRUS SCANNER
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Ratings breakdown
875,000 reviewsDeveloper contact
Name
MCAFEE, LLC
Address
2821 Mission College Blvd Santa Clara, CA 95054 United States
Website
https://service.mcafee.comPhone
+91 99943 53963
Support
mmsfeedback@mcafee.com
Privacy
View policyFrequently Asked Questions
Is the McAfee Security app free? high
Yes, the base McAfee Security app is free to download and includes single-device protection, an antivirus scan, Wi-Fi scan, and an identity scan. However, the app offers multiple paid subscription tiers (McAfee Basic Protection, McAfee+ Advanced) that unlock features like a secure VPN, advanced identity monitoring, and scam detection. In-app purchases range from $0.99 to $200.00 per item.
Source: app_metadata
Does McAfee Security protect against scams and phishing? high
Yes, a core feature advertised in the app description is the 'Scam Detector', which includes text scam protection for filtering risky messages, email scam protection for identifying phishing attempts, and real-time safe browsing that blocks malicious websites. The app uses the AccessibilityService API to scan websites in real-time for this purpose.
Source: app_metadata
Why is McAfee showing me ads and notifications? medium
Based on recent user reviews, the app frequently displays pop-up ads and promotional notifications encouraging users to 'buy more stuff'. This is a common and highly frustrating complaint among recent users. These notifications appear to be for in-app upsells and feature advertisements, which some users describe as being difficult or impossible to turn off.
Source: user_reviews
Is it safe to use the McAfee VPN? low
The app description promotes its automatic VPN for secure browsing with IP address encryption. However, one recent reviewer reports 'endless VPN connectivity issues' that recurred after a period of improvement. This suggests the VPN's reliability may be inconsistent for some users.
Source: user_reviews, app_metadata
How to Use
McAfee Security is a comprehensive cybersecurity suite that protects Android devices from viruses, malware, phishing scams, and identity theft, combining an antivirus scanner, a secure VPN, and identity monitoring tools. (app_description)
Getting Started
Source: app_metadata_and_description
- Download and install the app from the Google Play Store.
- Open the app and either sign in with an existing McAfee account or create a new one.
- Grant necessary permissions, especially for Accessibility Service if you want text and email scam protection features to work.
- Review the default free protection features: an antivirus scan, a Wi-Fi network security scan, and an identity scan.
- Navigate to the subscription section in the app to explore the paid tiers (Basic Protection, McAfee+ Advanced) for the full suite of features including the VPN and identity monitoring.
Key Features (from app listing)
Source: app_description
- Scam Detector: Scans texts and emails for phishing attempts and blocks harmful websites.
- Antivirus & Virus Scanner: Real-time, AI-powered threat detection for malware and spyware.
- Unlimited Secure VPN: Encrypts your IP address for private browsing, especially on public Wi-Fi.
- Identity Monitoring: 24/7 monitoring of email addresses, ID numbers, and credit activity for breaches and fraud.
- Personal Data Cleanup: Scans for personal info exposed on data broker sites and assists with removal requests.
Understanding Your Subscription
Source: app_metadata_and_description
- The free version provides basic protection on a single device.
- McAfee Basic Protection adds a VPN and identity monitoring for one device.
- McAfee+ Advanced expands protection to unlimited devices and adds features like credit monitoring, personal data cleanup, and a scam detector.
- All subscriptions require a purchase; check the app's settings or your Google Play account to manage or cancel your subscription.
This tip is responsive to a verified user complaint from the sample (3 of 5 recent reviewers cite excessive ads/notifications). It suggests a practical user-driven workaround by leveraging OS-level notification controls, as the app itself may not offer a direct disable option.
How this content was created
Content type: pattern_analysis_of_user_reviews_and_metadata
AI generated: Yes
- Google Play user reviews (5 per app), December 7, 2025 to February 22, 2026
- Google Play ratings distribution
- App Store listing metadata
- Review samples are not statistically representative of all user sentiment.
- This analysis is based on an extremely small sample of 5 recent reviews, which is not sufficient for reliable pattern analysis.
- Claims labeled as 'low confidence' are based on single-review observations only.
- No real-world app testing was conducted.
- Feature availability may vary by region, device, and app version.
Pros & Cons
Based on analysis of Google Play user reviews
Pros
- The app provides comprehensive antivirus and malware protection, effectively detecting threats.
Theme 'Effective protection' identified in overall ratings and recent_review #4.
Evidence (1)
“McAfee seems to do a good job, but it is currently my number one source of adware.”Rating: 3★ December 13, 2025 121 likes - The app includes a scam detector that filters risky texts and emails, enhancing security.
Theme 'Scam detection' identified in app description.
Evidence (1)
“FEATURESSCAM DETECTOR▪ Text scam protection filters risky messages and phishing attempts, and blocks harmful sites”Rating: ★ - The app offers a VPN for secure browsing with IP address encryption.
Theme 'VPN feature' identified in app description.
Evidence (1)
“This powerful mobile security app combines advanced Antivirus, a private VPN, robust identity protection”Rating: ★
Cons
- The app generates excessive and intrusive ads and notifications promoting upgrades and other products.
Theme 'Excessive ads/notifications' identified in recent_review #1, #4, and #5.
Evidence (3)
“pop-up ads after pop-up ad continously pop up on my screen, I can barely read an article,play a game or send a text for the adds popping up 1 after the other.”Rating: 1★ February 22, 2026 9 likes“Every day I have to dismiss multiple notifications on my laptop related to "buy more stuff from us"”Rating: 3★ December 13, 2025 121 likes“these alerts are annoying with no way to turn them off. Literally every 3-5 minutes it has to tell me it is protecting my phone”Rating: 3★ December 07, 2025 83 likes - The VPN has frequent connectivity issues, making it unreliable for consistent use.
Theme 'VPN issues' identified in recent_review #2 and #3.
Evidence (2)
“Endless VPN connectivity issues; Reminiscent of 1.5 years back, and beyond.”Rating: 2★ February 10, 2026 18 likes“I signed up for the free trial, when I went to cancel my subscription there was no option to be able to do so.”Rating: 1★ February 06, 2026 26 likes - Cancelling a subscription is difficult, with unresponsive support and no clear cancellation option.
Theme 'Cancellation difficulty' identified in recent_review #3.
Evidence (1)
“I signed up for the free trial, when I went to cancel my subscription there was no option to be able to do so. I emailed their support which was evidently useless as they didnt bother to reach back out to me.”Rating: 1★ February 06, 2026 26 likes
Recent Reviews
Evelyn Weldon
1★I, actually, have no rating for this app! I have this app installed and was expecting it to do what I've read in the reviews. unfortunately, pop-up ads after pop-up ad continously pop up on my screen, I can barely read an article,play a game or send a text for the adds popping up 1 after the other. It is totally exasperating!!! someone help, please!!!
Sarah Paige Sneeringer
2★While the app has drastically improved over the course of the past 1.5 years, comparatively to prior to that, we are now back in a rut again, in recent weeks. Endless VPN connectivity issues; Reminiscent of 1.5 years back, and beyond. It's not on my end, as I haven't changed a thing, and all updates are in effect.👎👎
Charles Provinsal
1★I signed up for the free trial, when I went to cancel my subscription there was no option to be able to do so. I emailed their support which was evidently useless as they didnt bother to reach back out to me. so this is the next step. beware if you download this. they will make it to where you cant cancel it. edit: have tried that already to no avail.
Tom S
3★McAfee seems to do a good job, but it is currently my number one source of adware. Every day I have to dismiss multiple notifications on my laptop related to "buy more stuff from us" -- only scam protection, make more space on your computer, upgrade your account, spend, spend, spend. For helping me get rid of this stuff, they do a great job of replacing it with their own ads. Then we move to the phone, constant notifications. It's like a toddler saying "look mom!" over and over. Tiring.
Patrick Galligan
3★I guess it is working...its installed on my phone but has not found anything. but these alerts are annoying with no way to turn them off. Literally every 3-5 minutes it has to tell me it is protecting my phone, like an annoying coworker that has to make a point of constantly telling you they're doing the job they are hired for. And the PC, I have it on 2 Win 11 PCs & its fine until I do a full scan and it errors out on both. Doesn't pass 1% of the scan. Even for my parents' PC that has few files