How do I stop McAfee pop ups and how do I stop the "take over" of my mouse while hearing a warning my computer has been compromised?

Question

I'm using Windows 11 and whether I'm in a document or reading a news article, the McAfee popup keeps appearing - sometimes within seconds of clicking on it and then using the X. Then I get "security warnings" that tell me to not turn off my computer, but to call a toll free number. It all appears to be a hoax. McAfee said the one purporting to be from them is a hoax. They took control of my computer and said they deleted the offending popup. It still pops up.

Answer 1

Patti,

As you can see from the popup you've received and the response you've gotten, determining whether a message displayed in a popup is truly from McAfee (or any other security app like Microsoft's own Windows Defender for example) is often quite difficult.

However, there are often subtle clues that most people miss and in fact McAfee themselves have tried to aid in making this clear via the following page on their own Customer Service Knowledge Base site.

McAfee KB - Your browser displays fake McAfee notifications (TS102999)

In your case, the popup you've received provides nothing specific to a portion of McAfee and instead simply appears to be a generic malvertisement, probably driven from whatever website you happened to be browsing, typically pushed through a redirection from one of the ads displayed along the bottom of the page (note the 'ad' tag visible at the very bottom of the one in the middle).

Since there's not only no specific instruction related to a McAfee component, but also no copyright notice, there's nothing claiming it's truly from McAfee, just the easily abused graphic that appears to be the McAfee logo, which anyone could easily copy and paste into their own advertisement.

So in this case, I suspect the popup is fake and thus the best option to try first is to simply close the popup itself by either pressing Alt-F4 or if that doesn't work, try opening Task Manager (right-click the taskbar or press Ctrl-Alt-Del keys together), then in the first 'Processes' tab, select the Microsoft Edge or other browser you're using and click the End task button (or right-click menu selection).

Rob

Answer 2

Hello Patti Fisher

This appears to be an advertisement being pushed to you by McAfee, assuming you have tried the tool in my first reply to uninstall McAfee and ensure that the PC is free of this software.

It is likely that McAfee has hijacked your PC by unknown means and is constantly pushing ads, and you should try to sue the software as they are likely to have been embedded in your PC and are difficult to find and remove.

Answer 3

It's a fake ad. Don't respond and close and delete it

Answer 4

You might want to have a look at the comments here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/computerviruses/comments/qm7fhu/how_to_delete_pc_app_store_adware/

and https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/8957-pc-app-store-adware

Answer 5

Hello Patti Fisher

Thanks for raising your concerns in Microsoft Community.

Based on the current situation, it seems that you are constantly being bothered by notifications from McAfee, which should generally be related to McAfee's own scanning or a false alarm from such third-party antivirus software. Instead of fixing these notifications, I recommend that you use Windows Defender to protect your computer and uninstall this third party antivirus, which itself does not take up any more resources. And there will be no such annoying notifications.

For information on how to completely uninstall McAfee, I recommend that you use the uninstall tool provided by McAfee to uninstall it, which will help remove this software. Please see the following article:

McAfee KB - How to remove McAfee products from a Windows PC (TS101331)

Disclaimer: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate and safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Once uninstalled please use Windows Defender to protect your computer, for information on how to open Windows Security see the following article:

Turn Windows Security on or off - Microsoft Support

Hope it helps! If any update, welcome to share with us.

Best regards,

Chandy |Microsoft Community Support Specialist