The Better Business Bureau of Washington is warning citizens to be wary of certain election phone calls, emails, and texts. Scammers are posing as being from election campaigns and PACs to con you out of your money or personal information.
Election time can be an emotional time of year. And
with the polarized atmosphere of our current political climate scammers try to take
advantage of our emotions to give them our money or our personal information.
According to the BBB, scammers take advantage of
people’s emotions to solicit supposed donation requests or send out fake poles.
Scammers make claims to represent a candidate or political
cause using language that presses hot buttons to get you to “donate.” Other
scammers may pose as pollsters and promise a gift card or other prize to entice
you to answer their questions. Real pollsters will not offer prizes in exchange
for your opinion.
You might receive an email with links to a spoofed candidate’s
website. The phishing email may be intended to collect your personal
information or install malware.
Scammers also send text messages spoofing candidates
and political action committees (PACs) seeking donations.
And scammers make phone calls that try to sound like an
actual campaign phone call.
During election season, many candidates and PACs send
legitimate emails, text messages and make phone calls. Here are some warning
signs to help determine if you are being contacted by a scammer:
·
A PAC whose name sounds more like a
charity. PACs that are registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) have
to focus solely on political activity.
·
A PAC’s website does not list the names of
the people running it or provide contact information.
·
A caller claiming to be a pollster or
elections official asks you for personal or financial information. Also, a
pollster offers a prize to participate in a poll.
More tips:
·
If you want to donate to a candidate or
political cause do not click on any links within a soliciting email or text
message that you receive. Conduct a web search for that candidate’s or
political cause’s website.
·
Make sure any PACs that you want to donate
to are registered with the FEC. You can check out spending by candidates or
PACs at the FEC website, https://www.fec.gov/data/,
or the Center for Responsive Politics website, https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/2022.
·
Do not make donations or provide personal
information to anyone who calls you out of the blue.
If you think you that you have been a target of an
election scam, contact your local field office of the FBI, https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/seattle.
If the contact was over social media or the internet
contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, https://www.ic3.gov/.
For questions or concerns about election scammers at
the state or local level, contact the Washington State Attorney General’s
Office, https://www.atg.wa.gov/, or the
Washington State Secretary of State’s Office, https://www.sos.wa.gov/.
KING TV:
Better Business Bureau:
https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/27597-political-scams-increase-as-midterm-elections-near
How to recognize a phishing email- https://www.bbb.org/all/spot-a-scam/how-to-spot-a-scam-email
How to recognize a smishing text message- https://www.bbb.org/all/spot-a-scam/how-to-spot-a-phony-text-message
AARP:
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/political.html?intcmp=AE-FWN-LIB3-POS9
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