How to avoid getting scammed by "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" emails

What kind of email is "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped"?

After inspecting the "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" email, we determined that it is spam promoting a refund scam disguised as an invoice. It must be emphasized that this email is not associated with McAfee Corp.

"McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Your order is on its way (#10001)" (may vary) states that the recipient's McAfee order has been shipped. The order summary provides details, such as the total being 599.99 USD. If the charge is incorrect or was made without their authorization, the email urges the recipient to contact support.

It must be reiterated that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is in no way associated with McAfee Corp. or any other genuine entities.

As mentioned in the introduction, this message promotes a refund scam. Victims are lured into calling a "helpline" to communicate with fake support. These scams involve allowing scammers to remotely access users’ devices under the guise of refund assistance.

Victims are asked to open their online bank account. Cyber criminals use remote access software to darken users' screens and request that they enter the refund amount. Meanwhile, scammers either edit the webpage's HTML code or move funds (e.g., from savings to checking). When the view returns, victims are confronted with a claim that they made a mistake when entering the refund amount, and what they see reflects that. They are pleaded to return the excess.

Neither of the actions actually affects victims' monetary assets; instead, it creates the illusion of a larger sum having been transferred to the account. Thus, victims of scams like "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" are deceived into sending money to scammers. Difficult-to-trace methods, such as cryptocurrencies, gift cards, pre-paid vouchers, or cash hidden in packages – are typically used to diminish the chances of successful prosecution and fund recovery.

For more in-depth information on refund scams and how they operate, you can read our dedicated article.

If you have permitted cyber criminals to access your device remotely, you must first disconnect it from the Internet. Afterward, uninstall the remote access program that the criminals used, as they might not need your consent to reconnect. Lastly, perform a full system scan with an antivirus and eliminate all detected threats.

Examples of spam campaigns promoting refund scams

We have written about numerous spam campaigns; "PayPal - You Added A New Address", "Payment For Bitdefender", and "Zoom Antivirus Plus Subscription" are just a couple examples of refund scams.

Deceptive emails are used to facilitate various scams, including phishing, technical support, advance fee, and sextortion. They are also utilized to proliferate trojans, ransomware, cryptocurrency miners, and other malware.

Spam emails are often poorly written and full of spelling/grammatical mistakes, but they can be believably put together and convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities. Therefore, be cautious with incoming communications.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns spread malware through infectious files, which can be attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. These files can be executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening a malicious file can be enough to trigger the infection chain. However, some formats need users to perform additional actions. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious.

It must be mentioned that malware is not distributed exclusively via spam campaigns. Therefore, we advise vigilance when browsing, as vague and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and harmless.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and verified sources. Software must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.

If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" spam email letter:

Subject: Your order is on its way (#10001)

McAfee

Your order has been shipped.

Order No. 10001 Placed on Nov 17, 2025

Order Summary

Contact us: +1 (805) 742-1786
SKU: 36421537613519154657
Price: $599.99

Qty: 1 $599.99

Subtotal $599.99
Shipping $0.00
Tax $0.00
Total $599.99

Need Assistance? Contact us.

We'll do everything we can to make sure you have a great experience with us.
Call us: If anything about this charge appears incorrect or unauthorized, kindly reach out to our support team as soon as you can at +1 (805) 742-1786

This email was sent by McAfee

Appearance of the "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" spam email (GIF):

Instant automatic malware removal:

Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:

By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by RCS LT, the parent company of PCRisk.com.

Quick menu:

• What is "McAfee - Your Order Has Been Shipped" refund scam email?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using  Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Spam emails are not personal, regardless of whether they contain information of such nature. Cyber criminals distribute these emails by the thousands, hoping that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.

I have allowed cyber criminals to remotely access my computer, what should I do?

If you have permitted scammers to access your device remotely – first, disconnect it from the Internet. Second, remove the remote access software that the scammers used. Lastly, perform a full system scan with an antivirus and remove all detected threats.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you've disclosed other private data (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Merely reading an email does not pose an infection threat; systems are compromised when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

File formats may influence the success rates of infections. Once opened, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail. However, some formats – such as documents (.doc, .one, .xls, .pdf, etc.) – might need additional interaction. In these instances, the infection is triggered after macros are enabled, embedded content is clicked, or other actions are performed.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and remove all manner of threats. It can detect and eliminate most of the known malware infections. Remember that performing a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.