Technologies

McAfee Rolls Out New Scam-Detecting Features, Adds Detection to Core Plans

Previously an add-on service, the new and improved scam and deepfake detecting features are also expanding beyond AI-powered devices.

It’s getting increasingly harder for the average person to avoid online scams. New technologies, including those powered by artificial intelligence, are helping cybercriminals boost both the sophistication and quantity of their scams.

And more people are losing more money to them. According to the Federal Trade Commission, American consumers lost a reported $12.5 billion to fraud last year, with much of that fraud starting online, marking a 25% increase from 2023.

And experts say scammers aren’t showing any signs of letting up this year.

«At the highest level, 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the scam,» said Steve Grobman, executive vice president and chief technology officer for McAfee, noting that Americans now face a daily onslaught of scams by email, text, social media and other online sources.

McAfee, long known for its consumer security software, on Wednesday announced a new version of its AI-powered Scam Detector, which is designed to identify scams, then flag them for the users to see and provide advice about what to do.

The company first launched Scam Detector in January as an add-on service to its regular security software. The updated version launched Wednesday includes new, more powerful features and will be included at no extra charge in McAfee’s core plans.

Grobman said the idea is to combine the power of AI tools with the unique and constantly updating threat intelligence being collected and analyzed by McAfee’s security software to identify and stop scams before they can do any damage.

When it comes to messages, emails and videos, the features all work a little differently.

Text messages are automatically scanned as they arrive, while users must manually check messages that come through encrypted apps like iMessage, WhatsApp and Signal by either copying their text or uploading a screenshot into McAfee’s app.

In the cases of those mobile messages, as well as emails, the AI will flag anything potentially scammy. It’s been trained to not just recognize links to scam websites, Grobman says, but also themes frequently used in scams like offers of deals too good to be true, or threats of fines or jail time if a recipient doesn’t act right away.

But where the AI powers really come into play is in the new version of McAfee’s Deepfake Detector. The original version launched last summer, but it was part of a separate paid service that was only available for Lenovo’s Copilot-Plus PCs, which included the hardware needed to do the AI processing on the device.

The new deepfake detection features, like McAfee’s other new scam-detection technologies, won’t cost extra. And while computers with neural processing units designed for AI operations will get better performance, Grobman says devices with less powerful central processing units also will now be able to use the features

The detector works on sites like YouTube, as well as social media platforms like X, TikTok and Instagram. It’s designed to alert consumers to deepfakes as they appear, but it doesn’t pass judgment on them. It will tell the user why it thinks the video is a deepfake and pinpoint the specific parts of the video that triggered its alerts.

Videos aren’t flagged as disinformation or scams, though Grobman says the company’s researchers are hoping to eventually work McAfee’s scam detection capabilities into its Deepfake Detector.

The Scam Detector features work on both Apple and Android mobile devices, while the email scanning features are compatible with Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo. Deepfake Detector is currently only available for Windows and Android, but McAFee hopes to add additional platforms soon.

Technologies

McDonald’s Snack Wrap: When Is the Viral Food Favorite Returning?

The Minecraft Meals were a huge hit, but the return of the snack wraps already have online buzz.

McDonald’s is riding a viral wave. The fast-food chain’s Minecraft Happy Meals and adult Minecraft Meals hit restaurants on April 1 and sold out quickly. Diners ordering a Happy Meal these days will find a Squishmallow theme meal instead. But there’s more viral buzz about another McDonald’s product online. People are eagerly awaiting the return of Snack Wraps, a chicken-tortilla entree that’s been missing from US locations of the Golden Arches since 2020.

Read more: Review: McDonald’s Minecraft Meals Feature The Hottest Nugget Sauce Ever

On April 15, McDonald’s tweeted «snack wraps 0x.14.2025,» hinting the wraps would return on the 14th of an upcoming month. This leaves fans having to check their McDonald’s mobile app or local restaurant menus on the 14th of every month, hoping the wraps will make an appearance. The wraps didn’t appear in restaurants on May 14, so now fans must check again in June. A representative for McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

snack wraps 0x.14.2025

— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) April 15, 2025

Snack Wrap fever

Snack Wraps first came out in 2006, and were meant to be a chicken item that would appeal to drive-thru customers. There are different versions, but the basic one includes white-meat chicken strips known as McCrispy Strips wrapped in a flour tortilla with cheese and lettuce with either ranch, honey mustard or salsa. McCrispy Strips are a reworked version of a chicken item formerly known as Chicken Selects.

Zach Ciampa, who regularly covers new food releases under the social-media handle Snach With Zach, said there’s been an intense fanbase out there for the wraps. «Regarding McDonald’s Snack Wrap, it’s by far the most requested item I’ve ever seen my audience ask or demand to come back,» he told CNET. «Not just the most requested in recent memory, but the most requested of all time. And that’s not limited to McDonald’s.» Ciampa said the only similar fast-food items that come close to the same level of interest are Dairy Queen’s S’mores Blizzard and Taco Bell’s Caramel Apple Empanada, both of which also made recent returns.

«I’ve been covering food releases for years, and in that time, I’ve seen countless comments to the tune of ‘We don’t want this. We want the Snack Wrap,’ and, ‘Can you tell us when the Snack Wrap is coming back?'» he said. «A couple years ago, the chances of its return were pretty bleak. However, things escalated pretty quickly in late 2023 when McDonald’s did indeed announce that the Snack Wrap would return in a new form. Since then, details have slowly but surely trickled out, and the hype has steadily grown.»

While Snack Wraps left McDonald’s locations in the US back in 2020, they remained available at Canadian and UK restaurants. The current online McDonald’s Canada menu includes several tortilla-wrapped items, including ones with crispy chicken, grilled chicken, buffalo chicken and chicken with a sweet chili sauce.

Technologies

Is IRS Direct File Going Away? What the Trump-Backed Budget Means for the Free Service

Technologies

Uber Introduces Its Own Version of Prime Day: Uber One Member Days

The industry-leading rideshare company is creating a new weeklong event full of deals, promotions and savings to coincide with Memorial Day sales.

If you’re an Uber One member, you’ll be able to take advantage of a massive new promo. The first Uber One Member Days event will run from Friday, May 16, to Friday, May 23, to coincide with Memorial Day sales on other tech shopping platforms.

Uber One Member Days is structured very similarly to Amazon’s various Prime Day sales — paying members will have access to rotating benefits over the course of the event, timed with Memorial Day, compounded with the usual perks of an Uber One membership.

During each day of the Uber One Member Days promotion, you’ll have the chance to access new deals across Uber, Uber Eats and Uber-partnered brands. Uber is one of the best food delivery services, but it can be prohibitively expensive. These deals can help put delivery within reach, at least during Member Days.

While the full list of deals and promos won’t be available until Member Days begins, Uber has offered some insights into what the benefits will look like.

Uber One members will be able to knock 50% off the price of shared rides, 20% off Uber Black and 40% off the Comfort Electric during the Member Days week.

Uber One already offers a breadth of evergreen benefits to anyone who uses Uber and Uber Eats, including $0 food delivery, up to 10% off orders at participating locations, 6% money back on any rides taken and more. The newest benefit alongside Uber One Member Days is that you can get 10% of your Uber One credits back when you use Uber Rent or take Lime rides on Uber, sweetening the membership deal a little bit more.

If you aren’t an Uber One member but you want to take advantage of the exclusive Uber One Member Days deals, you can get a free one month membership by signing up here — just be sure to keep an eye on the payment details if you don’t plan to continue the subscription after your first month.