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McAfee and Pat McAfee Turn a Name Mix-Up Into a Push for Online Safety
If a message popped up in your feed tomorrow promising a cash refund, a surprise giveaway, or a limited-time crypto opportunity, would you pause long enough to question it?
That split second matters more than ever.
Most modern scams don’t rely on panic or obvious red flags. They rely on familiarity. On things that feel normal. On moments that seem too small to question.
And those moments are exactly what scammers exploit.
Why Today’s Scams Are So Easy to Fall For
There was a time when spotting a scam was relatively straightforward. The emails were badly written. The websites looked rushed. The warnings were obvious.
Scammers don’t just rely on obvious spam or panic-driven messages. Instead, many now use:
- Friendly, natural language
- Faces of celebrities and figures you trust
- Messages that arrive through trusted apps
- Conversations that unfold gradually
- Requests that feel routine instead of suspicious
McAfee’s Celebrity Deepfake Deception research shows how common and convincing these scams have become: 72% of Americans say they’ve seen a fake or AI-generated celebrity endorsement, and 39% say they’ve clicked on one that turned out to be fraudulent. When scam content shows up in the same feeds, apps, and formats people use every day, it feels normal.
That’s the danger zone. It’s also why McAfee chose to use a familiar, culturally recognizable moment to talk about a much bigger issue.
Why McAfee Partnered with Pat McAfee
Whether you’ve been saying mack-uh-fee or mick-affy, the long-running name mix-up is harmless in everyday conversation.
Online, though, small moments of confusion can have outsized consequences.
Scammers rely on quick assumptions: that a familiar name means legitimacy, that a recognizable face means trust, that a message arriving in the right place must be real. They move fast, hoping people act before stopping to verify
Pat McAfee knows firsthand how scammers exploit familiarity and trust.
In recent months, fake social media giveaways promising cash and prizes have circulated using Pat’s likeness, and even a fraudulent “American Heart Association fundraiser” made the rounds, falsely claiming he was collecting donations.
Pat wants his fans to know: if you ever see a giveaway, fundraiser, or message claiming to be from him, double-check it on his official channels first. If it feels off, it probably is.
Unfortunately, these scams work because people trust Pat. Scammers exploit that trust to lower people’s guard and make fraudulent requests feel legitimate.
It’s the same tactic used across countless impersonation scams today: borrow the authority of a familiar face, add a sense of urgency, and move fast before anyone stops to verify, “is this legit?” We’ve seen it happen with Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, Al Roker, Brad Pitt, and numerous others.
Remember, no legitimate giveaway will ask for payment, banking details, login credentials, or account access. And no nonprofit fundraiser tied to a celebrity should ever come from a personal message or unfamiliar social account.
Watch: Pat McAfee Explains How McAfee Is More Than an Antivirus
In the video below, Pat McAfee playfully demonstrates how easily familiar moments online can turn into risk, and why digital safety today can’t rely on perfect judgment alone.
How to Protect Yourself Right Now
You don’t have to stop using your favorite platforms. But you do have to change how you verify online threats.
Before You Trust Any Urgent Message or Offer:
- Be skeptical of sudden financial opportunities
- Assume giveaways that require payment or credentials are scams
- Never connect accounts, wallets, or payment methods from social links
- Verify claims on official websites, not just inside apps
- Be cautious of messages that replace clear context with urgency
If a video or message feels real but the request feels extreme, that’s a red flag.
McAfee offers more than traditional antivirus, combining multiple layers of digital protection in one app
- Scam Detector to help flag suspicious messages and links
- Safe Browsing tools to help block risky websites
- VPN to keep your connection private on public Wi-Fi
- Identity Monitoring and Alerts to notify you if your personal information appears where it shouldn’t
- Personal Data Cleanup to help remove your information from high-risk data broker sites
- Device and Account Security to help protect the things you use most
Final Takeaway
If a scam looks obvious, most people won’t fall for it.
But modern scams don’t look obvious. They look familiar. They use your favorite faces. They look normal. They look safe. And that’s where people get hurt.
Staying safe now means slowing down, verifying independently, and having protection work quietly in the background while you stay focused on what you actually came online to do.
McAfee’s built-in Scam Detector, included in all core plans, automatically detects scams across text, email, and video, blocks dangerous sites, and identifies deepfakes, stopping harm before it happens.
And because today’s risks aren’t just about what you click, a VPN and Personal Data Cleanup add additional layers of defense by helping protect your connection and limit how much personal information is available to be exploited in the first place.
Ready to get Pat’s Picks? Learn more here.
FAQs
For clarity, and because these questions come up often, here’s the straightforward explanation:
| Q: Is Pat McAfee the founder of McAfee antivirus? A: No. Pat McAfee is not associated with the founding or leadership of McAfee. McAfee was founded by John McAfee and operates independently. |
| Q: Are Pat McAfee and McAfee the same company? A: No. Pat McAfee is a sports media personality. McAfee is a cybersecurity company. They are separate entities. |
| Q: Why does McAfee work with Pat McAfee? A: McAfee partnered with Pat McAfee to raise awareness about online scams, impersonation fraud, and digital safety using culturally relevant examples. |
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