McAfee has been a go-to name in digital security for years, especially when it comes to antivirus protection. But did you know they’ve stepped up their game to tackle identity theft too? McAfee now offers a full suite of features aimed at keeping your personal information safe, including identity monitoring, credit monitoring, and even identity theft insurance. It’s part of their move towards a more complete approach to digital security, helping you stay ahead of increasingly clever identity thieves.
Identity theft isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a growing concern. With cybercriminals getting craftier, the need for solid protection services has never been greater. Reliable identity theft protection services provide real-time alerts, dark web monitoring, and personal data cleanup to help ensure your identity stays secure, giving you peace of mind.
In this McAfee review, we’ll break down its identity theft protection services, highlighting the pros, cons, and everything in between. We’ll test McAfee’s real-time alerts, credit monitoring, and identity theft insurance, plus give you a walkthrough of the user experience, from setup to daily use.
Why trust our review? With years of experience in digital security, our team delivers thorough and unbiased reviews. We’re committed to transparency, offering honest insights backed by real-world testing.
| Website | McAfee.com |
| Key identity protection features | Credit monitoring (1-bureau or 3-bureau) with detailed reports, dark web surveillance, up to $2M in identity theft insurance, and full recovery services. |
| Price | $89.99 – $424.99/year |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| 24/7 customer support | Yes |
| Best deal | N/A |
Highlights from our McAfee review
McAfee’s identity theft protection includes comprehensive services such as identity monitoring, credit alerts, and up to $2 million in insurance coverage.
Users report a generally positive experience with McAfee’s interface and customer service, though there are concerns about the lack of flexibility in subscription plans and rising renewal costs.
Despite being a strong competitor, McAfee faces challenges with low customer satisfaction ratings and limited features in comparison to some rival identity protection services.
Overview of McAfee identity theft protection
McAfee has stepped up its game in identity theft protection, blending solid security software with advanced identity monitoring features.
Let’s dive into what McAfee brings to the table:
Credit monitoring and reporting: Keeps an eagle eye on your credit reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. If something fishy shows up, you’ll be the first to know.
Dark web surveillance: Ventures into the shadowy corners of the dark web to check if your personal info is being traded without your consent.
Social media and privacy monitoring: Keeps tabs on your social media accounts for any suspicious activity that could jeopardize your online identity.
SSN and identity monitoring: Instantly alerts you if your Social Security number (SSN) or other personal details are being misused.
Comprehensive support and protection: Offers expert identity restoration, lost wallet assistance, up to $2 million in identity theft insurance, and 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and social media.
Child identity protection: Safeguards your kids’ identities with family plans that keep everyone covered.
Personal data cleanup: Scrubs your personal info from data broker databases, helping you maintain your privacy.
AI-powered scam protection: Employs smart AI to shield you from phishing scams and online threats on the web and social media.
Now, let’s jump into the pros and cons of choosing McAfee for identity theft protection.
The main benefits and drawbacks of using McAfee
Every service has its strengths and weaknesses, and McAfee is no exception. McAfee’s integration of antivirus software and identity theft protection creates a comprehensive security package, yet there are areas where it excels and others where it falls short. Let's break down the good, the bad, and the not-so-ugly.
What we like about McAfee
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Around-the-clock phone support
- Antivirus software and a VPN
- AI-driven protection against phishing and smishing scams
- Comprehensive credit monitoring
- Up to $1M coverage per person
- Personal data removal
- Password manager for added security
What we don't like about McAfee
- Price hikes after the first year
- Limited customer support
- Three-bureau credit monitoring is only available on the most expensive plan
- No free trial or monthly payment option
- Only partial data broker site checks
- Limited virus protection and identity theft coverage on lower plans
Next up, the primary tools McAfee offers for identity theft protection.
Key features: What does McAfee's identity theft protection include?
McAfee’s identity theft protection service comes loaded with essential features to keep you safe. From monitoring your identity and credit to scanning the dark web and offering personal data cleanup, they’ve got a lot to cover. Plus, with identity theft insurance and restoration services, they aim to have you fully protected.
Let’s take a closer look at each feature to see what they offer and how they stack up.
Credit monitoring
With monthly credit reports, you can easily keep track of your credit status and see any changes that might pop up. If you go for the “Ultimate” plan, you get reports from all three major bureaus – Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. This gives you a well-rounded view of your credit health.
We liked the real-time alerts McAfee offers for new inquiries, account changes, and public record updates.
Plus, McAfee provides useful tips and tools to help you secure your credit, like security freeze and credit lock options, which are available in higher-tier plans. The dashboard made it easy to view our credit scores, reports, and account details, helping us feel more in control.
Dark web monitoring and personal data cleanup
McAfee monitors up to 60 types of sensitive information, like SSNs and passport details, to ensure our data isn’t being sold or misused. If it spots anything suspicious on the dark web, we get an immediate alert so we can act quickly.
However, we found that by default, McAfee only checks email addresses on the dark web. To get full coverage, including monitoring for things like SSNs and health IDs, we had to opt into auto-renewal. While dark web monitoring is helpful, it’s not a catch-all – it doesn’t cover where our data might show up in public records or on social media.
Identity theft insurance
Depending on the plan you choose, you could get up to $2 million in coverage. For us, having such a high level of protection was incredibly reassuring.
With the “Advanced” plan, we were covered for up to $1 million, which is pretty substantial. This meant we had help with recovering stolen funds, dealing with lost wages, and even covering legal fees if needed. It’s a solid backup for when things go wrong.
But if you’re looking for the top-tier protection, the “Ultimate” plan offers up to $2 million in coverage. Plus, it includes up to $25,000 specifically for ransomware attacks, which is a nice extra if you’re worried about those kinds of threats. There’s no deductible with this plan, which made it feel even more comprehensive.
Identity restoration services
If you ever find yourself dealing with identity theft, McAfee’s restoration services are there to support you through the process. Here’s how they can help:
Dedicated restoration specialist: With the “Advanced” plan, we got a personal restoration specialist who guided us through every step after a theft. From reporting the incident to canceling compromised cards and updating passwords, having someone knowledgeable on our side made a huge difference.
Comprehensive support: McAfee's team steps in to handle important tasks like freezing our credit and dealing with credit reporting, which took a lot of the stress out of the situation.
Personal data removal: They also help clean up our personal information from data broker sites, which gave us peace of mind knowing that our sensitive details were being taken care of.
Extra tools for stronger online privacy and security
Beyond identity theft protection, McAfee provides additional tools to improve your online privacy. These extras are designed to offer extra protection for your personal data. Let’s dive into what each tool does and how it benefits you.
Data removal services
It’s not just about guarding our data – McAfee also hunts down where it’s being sold by data brokers and works to remove it, giving us more control over our privacy.
With the “Ultimate” plan, it’s reassuring to know that McAfee doesn’t just find the problem – it fixes it. We had the option to either manage the cleanup ourselves or let McAfee handle it automatically, which was a nice touch. The process might take up to 45 days since data brokers need time to process the requests, but knowing that our details are being actively removed was worth the wait.
McAfee tackles around 40 major data brokers, which provided us with solid protection. There are other services for more extensive data removal, but McAfee’s coverage gave us a good sense of control over our online information.
Antivirus software
McAfee’s antivirus software plays a crucial role in their security setup, and we appreciated how it kept our devices well-protected. It’s always on guard, scanning for viruses, malware, and those sneaky identity theft attempts. Whenever it spots something suspicious, it jumps in, quarantining or removing the threat right away.
With the “Advanced” and “Premium” plans, McAfee’s “Total Protection” has us covered across all our devices, which really puts our minds at ease. The regular updates mean we’re always protected against the latest cyber threats, so we can browse and work online without worry. Plus, we loved that it offers excellent real-time malware detection and web protection, and it’s one of the few services that let us protect as many devices as we need.
VPN service
With McAfee’s VPN in their premium plans, we felt much safer using public Wi-Fi. It encrypts our connection, making it tough for hackers to get at our data, which is perfect for those sketchy café or airport networks.
McAfee’s VPN hides our IP address and lets us browse the web anonymously. It covers up to five devices, so our phones, tablets, and laptops are all protected. With access to nearly 50 countries, including places like Australia, Canada, and Japan, we felt secure whether we were traveling or just using our devices at home. Also, the VPN worked perfectly with both our Android and iOS devices.
Password manager
True Key securely stores our passwords in an encrypted vault, offering more protection than our browser’s password manager.
We also loved the built-in password generator – it made creating strong, unique passwords for every account a breeze. Plus, the auto-fill feature means we don’t have to fumble with typing passwords every time we log in.
Having True Key as part of our McAfee plan made managing our credentials much easier and safer. It's a handy tool for keeping our accounts secure and our online experience smooth.
Digital file shredder
Deleting a file doesn’t always mean it’s gone for good. McAfee’s digital file shredder takes care of that by permanently erasing your files. It overwrites the data multiple times, so those sensitive documents are truly gone and can’t be recovered.
We’ve explored all these excellent security features – now, let’s dive into the pricing details.
Plans and pricing: How much will you pay for McAfee?
McAfee offers several plans to fit different needs and budgets, starting with a 30-day free trial so you can explore their features before committing. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect:
| Basic | Essential | Premium | Advanced | Ultimate | |
| Price (for the first year) | $29.99/year | $39.99/year | $49.99/year | $89.99/year | $199.99/year |
| Price (upon renewal) | $89.99/year | $119.99/year | $149.99/year | $199.99/year | $279.99/year |
| 3-bureau credit monitoring | No | No | No | No, 1-bureau only | Yes |
| Identity theft insurance | No | No | No | Up to $1M | Up to $2M |
| Best deal | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
For families, McAfee has plans that extend coverage to multiple users.
| Premium Family | Advanced Family | Ultimate Family | |
| Price (for the first year) | $69.99/year | $119.99/year | $249.99/year |
| Price (upon renewal) | $169.99/year | $269.99/year | $424.99/year |
| 3-bureau credit monitoring | No | No, 1-bureau only | Yes |
| Identity theft insurance | No | Up to $1M | Up to $2M |
| Best deal | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Remember that renewal rates spike up quite a bit after the first year, so be sure to factor in those long-term costs. Also, you'll need to opt for auto-renewal to access features like the VPN and password manager, which means committing to continuous coverage to get the full benefits of McAfee.
User experience: How user-friendly is McAfee?
When diving into McAfee’s identity theft protection, we found the user experience to be a mix of handy and a bit tricky. On the bright side, McAfee offers 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and social media. So if you hit any snags or have questions, help is just a call or click away.
That said, we did encounter some user feedback mentioning that the interface can be a bit confusing. Navigating through the service wasn’t always as smooth as we hoped, which could be a bit frustrating if you’re not tech-savvy.
While McAfee tries to be user-friendly, there’s still room to polish up the experience for a smoother ride.
Setting up McAfee
Setting up McAfee’s service was pretty straightforward for us – it took less than 15 minutes from start to finish. The setup process is designed to be intuitive, with clear instructions that make it easy to get everything in place.
You might need a bit of extra help with features like credit monitoring, but McAfee’s customer support is there to guide you through any issues. It’s nice to have help just a call or click away.
Navigating the dashboard
McAfee’s dashboard is laid out in a way that makes it easy to check your identity protection status and track your protection score. Adding personal information for monitoring was a breeze, and we appreciated the real-time updates on any suspicious activities.
That said, we did notice that the dashboard sometimes nudged us towards exploring more McAfee products. While it’s great that they offer a lot of options, it occasionally felt like a push to spend more. Still, the alerts and updates we received through the dashboard helped keep us informed about our security.
Using the mobile app
Whether on Android or iOS, McAfee’s mobile app provides 24/7 identity monitoring and alerts, making it easy to stay on top of our security while on the go.
The AI-driven security kept us protected against online threats, so we could browse and shop with confidence, no matter where we were.
How to cancel your McAfee subscription
Cancelling your McAfee subscription is fairly straightforward, but there are a few steps to follow to make sure everything goes smoothly:
Disable auto-renewal: To avoid further charges, you need to turn off the auto-renewal feature. Here’s how you do it:
Log in to your McAfee account.
Navigate to the top of your “My Account” page.
Select “Account” and then click on “Auto-Renewal Settings.”
Follow the on-screen instructions to disable auto-renewal. This will stop the automatic renewal of your subscription, but you’ll still have access to McAfee services until the end of your current billing period.
Check for charges: After turning off auto-renewal, keep an eye on your account to avoid unexpected charges. Some users have reported being billed even after canceling.
Requesting a refund: If you’re billed after cancellation, you’ll need to reach out to McAfee’s support for a refund. It can be tricky, so have your cancellation info ready.
Full Account Deletion: For full account deletion and personal data removal, you'll need to get in touch with McAfee’s support team. They'll assist you with the process.
Canceling and requesting a refund might be tricky, but following these steps can help you manage your subscription with less stress.
Customer service: Are you getting the support you need?
McAfee’s around-the-clock phone and chat support ensures you can get help whenever needed. Their support page is also pretty handy, with videos, guides, and a search bar to help you find answers quickly.
In our experience, McAfee’s support has been reliable and responsive. But we’ve heard mixed feedback from others – some have had smooth interactions, while others faced delays or unhelpful responses.
McAfee also has an informative blog and a community forum where users can connect and share tips. While their social media presence isn’t as strong as we’d like, they do offer a decent range of support options.
Data privacy and security: How secure is your data?
McAfee is committed to safeguarding your sensitive information with a range of advanced privacy features. Their personal data cleanup tool helps you find and remove your data from websites that misuse it, adding an extra layer of protection.
You’ll benefit from 24/7 identity monitoring and alerts to quickly address unauthorized access. The secure VPN feature also encrypts your data, protecting you on public Wi-Fi networks.
McAfee “Total Protection” uses AI-powered security to provide real-time threat detection across all your devices. This comprehensive coverage ensures your digital security is always up to date.
While McAfee offers strong protection, it lacks features like change-of-address monitoring and social media identity reports. Also, the interface might also be complex for some users. Additionally, McAfee collects data on user interactions and purchases.
McAfee vs competitors: How does it stack up?
When it comes to identity theft protection, McAfee is a notable player, but how does it measure up against its competitors?
Aura vs McAfee: Aura shines brightly in the world of identity protection and credit monitoring. It stands out for its robust set of features, including alerts for potential fraud and notifications about sensitive data exposed in public records or the dark web. What sets Aura apart is its balance of comprehensive protection and user-friendly design, all at a reasonable price.
- LifeLock vs McAfee: LifeLock is a strong competitor, especially for those who need specialized protection. It offers a range of plans tailored to different needs, but be aware that add-ons such as malware protection and VPN access can increase the overall cost. While LifeLock provides a thorough suite of tools to safeguard your digital life, the extra costs for additional features can be a downside.
Identity Guard vs McAfee: Identity Guard leverages advanced AI technology for identity monitoring, setting it apart from many other services. It also provides social media monitoring for signs of hacking and spam, a feature that’s not widely available. Its comprehensive monitoring capabilities make it a noteworthy option, though it may not be as cost-effective as Aura.
While McAfee is a solid option, especially if you already use its antivirus products, Aura’s combination of affordability, ease of use, and robust protection makes it a top choice for those looking for the best overall value.
Final verdict: Is McAfee still worth it in 2024?
After closely examining McAfee’s identity theft protection, it’s clear that they deliver a strong package of features. With comprehensive credit monitoring, dark web surveillance, extensive identity restoration services, and up to $2 million in identity theft insurance, McAfee delivers a lot of protection. The added benefits of integrated antivirus software and a VPN also bolster its security offering.
However, McAfee does have its downsides. The significant price hikes after the first year can be off-putting, and subscription plans don’t offer much flexibility. Plus, while customer support is usually accessible, the quality of service has received mixed reviews. The interface might also be confusing for less tech-savvy users. On top of that, the online security tools and identity theft coverage are more limited on the lower-tier plans, which could be a drawback for some.
In contrast, Aura shines as a simpler and more affordable option. It provides great protection without the steep price hikes, offering better value for many people.
McAfee FAQ
Is McAfee identity protection worth it?
McAfee’s identity protection does come packed with features like credit monitoring, dark web scanning, identity restoration, and a hefty $2 million in identity theft insurance, which sounds impressive.
But is it really worth it? The steep price jump after the first year can be a bit of a shocker, and the limited flexibility in subscription plans might not work for everyone. Plus, while having antivirus software and a VPN included is a nice touch, the user experience can be hit-or-miss, and customer support reviews are a mixed bag.
What are the disadvantages of McAfee?
While McAfee provides strong protection, there are a few drawbacks to keep in mind. First off, the price jumps significantly after the first year, and customer support options are somewhat limited. If you’re looking for three-bureau credit monitoring, it’s only available on the priciest plan.
Unfortunately, there’s no free trial or option to pay monthly, and the data broker site checks are only partial. Plus, the lower plans offer limited virus protection and identity theft coverage.
How do I cancel McAfee identity theft protection?
Canceling your McAfee identity theft protection involves a few steps:
Disable auto-renewal: Log in to your McAfee account, navigate to “Account” and then “Auto-Renewal Settings,” and follow the instructions to turn off auto-renewal.
Check for charges: Monitor your account to ensure no unexpected charges occur.
Request a refund: If billed after cancellation, contact McAfee support for a refund.
Full Account Deletion: For complete account deletion, reach out to McAfee’s support team for assistance.
What happens to my personal information after I cancel my McAfee subscription?
After canceling your McAfee subscription, your access to their services will continue until the end of your current billing period. For a full account deletion and the removal of your personal information from McAfee's databases, you'll need to contact customer support. They will guide you through the process to ensure your data is completely removed.
This McAfee review was last updated on September 9, 2024.
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