Note : I've edited the subject line. It's my thread, I can do that. Of course I have to do the same for the replies ...

I received an email supposedly from McAfee about renewing my subscription. Now, as far as  know, my ISP provides me with McAfee as part of my broadband package, so I looked into this email. It looks like it might be a fake.

The text of the email is below; information from the email headers below that.

Note that the URL hiding behind the "McAfee Renewal Center" link is (I've obfuscated it for safety)

"https://secure[dot]livechatinc[dot]com/licence/9130465/open_chat.cgi "

- which brings up what may be, perhaps, a chat link to the McAfee Renewal Service; I haven't used this before. Comments are welcome as to whether this is the genuine article or not.

I am not prepared to put my trust in this Chat service nor this web page because evidence from the email headers strongly suggests that it was not sent by McAfee. Again, if anyone else has seen this email and can verify it as genuine, please say so.

First, there are two sender domains in the email headers.

The first of these is "subscription@mcafeerenewal[dot]com" - a domain which, according to DomainTools, was registered by BigRock Solutions only in 2013 and the ownership records for which are hidden behind Privacy Protect LLC. Not a hint of McAfee ownership.

The second domain - the ultimate sender - is "antiviruspaymentspaid@gmail.com". which is unknown to Google. The IP address maps to a Google server, that's as much as I can find out.

So, is this email genuine?

     I don't know. It looks very much like a fake, a phishing attempt.

Do I trust it?

     No. An email from McAfee needs more than a picture of the McAfee logo to make it genuine.

If I ignore it, will I lose my McAfee subscription?

     Maybe. Wait and see. But if it does turn out to be genuine then McAfee are at fault for sending out an apparent phishing email.

Has anyone else received one of these? If so, did you use the link in the email, and what happened?