AI has come a long way - from being the stuff of science fiction to becoming a practical part of everyday life. Like any powerful tool, it isn’t inherently good or bad; what matters is how it’s used. Scammers are turning to AI to make their schemes more convincing, while security companies are using it to build smarter protection. The real story of AI is one of evolution: it’s shaping both the risks we face online and the solutions designed to keep us safe.
One example of the latter is Scam Detector, a new feature McAfee has introduced across all core subscription plans in the UK, US, and Australia. It’s powered by AI to spot and flag scams - helping people stay a step ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats.
How does Scam Detector work to keep you safe?
Scam Detector provides proactive protection that’s simple, powerful, and built for the way people connect today. Based on McAfee's AI-powered technology, it automatically identifies scams across text, email, and video.
Scam Detector arrives at a critical moment: more than half of Brits say they or someone they know has fallen victim to an online scam - and 1 in 10 who lost money to a scam lost over £1,000. With Brits now receiving an average of 10 scam messages a day, from fake delivery updates to urgent-sounding tax return warnings, the common thread is clear: they’re designed to pressure people into giving up personal or financial details.
AI is changing the way scams work by making them seem more believable. It can copy the look and sound of real people - like money-saving expert Martin Lewis in a recent deepfake video - and AI can even mimic trusted brands. That makes it easier than ever for scammers to win people’s trust and trick them into letting their guard down.
Scam Detector uses AI to scan texts, emails, and videos for signs of fraud, and it flags or blocks suspicious links before you click them. On Android, SMS messages are auto-scanned with alerts before you open them, while on iPhone, suspicious texts are filtered or can be checked manually in seconds. It also protects email across Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo, explaining why a message was flagged to help you build scam-spotting skills. For deepfakes, McAfee detects if there's AI-manipulated audio in the video clips you watch on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms - all processed on-device to protect your privacy.
This level of scanning power makes for a highly accurate system. McAfee reports that Scam Detector automatically identifies suspicious text messages with over 99% accuracy and flags videos that have had their audio manipulated using AI with 96% accuracy - all within seconds.
Fighting scams with AI across all core McAfee plans
Scams are becoming harder for people to spot. According to McAfee research, nearly 1 in 5 people in the UK say text scam messages are getting more sophisticated, and 20% say the same about scam emails. Almost half believe deepfake video scams are also becoming more difficult to identify.
It can feel overwhelming to keep up with all the scams you hear about - but it’s often the ones you don’t see coming that are the most effective. These unexpected threats are designed to catch you off guard. That’s exactly where Scam Detector helps - by stepping in to flag suspicious content right away, before you tap or click on any risky links.
Scam Detector complements McAfee's malware protection, and as noted, this feature is available for all core McAfee plans (which come with 24/7 customer support). That means you get the benefits of advanced AI working for you - not against you - for no extra cost, helping protect your digital life so you can feel more confident and stay safer online.