4 Election Donation and Identity Scams To Avoid
For scammers, the goals of getting your personal information and money remain the same year in and year out, but the strategies used constantly change with the times. As the presidential election approaches, Americans will need to remain vigilant not only against voter fraud, but financial and identity scams.
“These donation scams are going to manifest themselves in many different ways,” said Shawn Waldman, CEO and Founder of cybersecurity consulting firm Secure Cyber.
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According to Tom Aldrich, Chief Revenue Officer at 360 Privacy, the ongoing stories (and how you interact with them) leading-up to November 5th will bring scammers out of the woodwork, using every tactic to target your data and cash. “There are financial, malware and credential-stealing scams that primarily prey on consumers and users, leveraging events and topics that are top of mind, such as election updates and donation requests,” he said.
“Political donation scams are when a scammer acts as a political candidate or political party and solicits donations — typically via phone, email or social media,” said Truman Kain, a senior researcher at cybersecurity firm Huntress. “Scammers not only have your contact information and voting records; they also have access to most, if not all, of the data that advertisers use to serve you relevant ads online. Then it’s just a matter of casting a wide net and waiting for the payments to roll in.”
Emerging technology can save time, increase productivity, provide better access to information and even extend lifespans, but it comes with potential risks when placed in the hands of scammers using it for voter donation scams. “Although political parties may not be aligned on all matters, the research finds that they do agree on one thing when it comes to cybersecurity: AI will have a negative effect on the outcome of this year’s election,” said Mary Mangione, associate global director at Yubico.
As we shall see, scammers are deceitful, but they are also innovative and relentless and many pride themselves on sounding convincing and “official,” so you must be cautious. As such, Americans will need to know how to recognize a scam when they see one. Here are four types of donation and identity scams to look out for and some ways to protect yourself, according to experts.
1. Robocalls and Text Messages
Speaking to AARP, Dan Evon, senior manager of education design for the News Literacy Project, said, “The one genre of misinformation I’m most worried about for the election is fake audio.” Fake video might be easier to spot, but with a robocall, “there’s not as many obvious red flags to indicate whether something is false.”
“Robocalls and text messages are the two most popular methods of attack for these scams, but outreach through social media and other messaging platforms is becoming more common,” said Kain. Although the Federal Communications Commission made voice cloning technology used in common robocall scams illegal after they were used before the January New Hampshire primary, AI technology is becoming more sophisticated by the day.
“Sometimes, a real voice clip of the candidate is used in calls,” Kain explained. “And now with the rise of widely available voice cloning and deepfake tools, we can increasingly expect the cloned voice or likeness of candidates to be used in videos and robocalls.”
Waldman feels that text messages will be even more pervasive during election time, as people have become numb to the oversaturation of robocalls. “These text messages might come in the form of a survey request or some other seemingly innocent request,” Waldman noted. “Clicking on the link will then take you to a page designed to disguise itself as a legitimate donation page for your favorite candidate. Instead, it’s going to be a fake domain and page that will scam you out of money and your personal information.”
2. Email Messages
“The quickest way to notice a scam, if you receive an email, is to hover over the sender’s name to see the real email address,” notes Adam Grant, partner at the creative law firm Grant Shenon. “If the name that appears is misleading, the actual email address will tip you off to where the message is actually coming from and will often be the greatest ‘tell’ that it is a scam.
“One of the most common types of scams is found on social media sites like Facebook, X and Instagram,” according to Grant. “The post leads with a positive story about a candidate, and then asks the reader to click to donate. If you click, and don’t donate, you should expect an endless stream of spam emails to follow with similar tone and content.”
A good rule of thumb is provided by Aldrich, who urges Americans to question messages they are receiving and look for common scam identifiers like “a sense of urgency, a request of ANY type of sensitive, personal information, misspelled words or use of the Cyrillic alphabet and the use of blurred images that lead you to click on the image to see the full picture.”
3. Fake Websites
Thousands of fraudulent websites are built every day to try to lure visitors into giving away personal and financial information or download malware that disrupts devices and data. According to Israel Mazin, CEO and co-founder of Memcyco, a leading provider of cutting-edge digital trust technologies, “Not only have cybercriminals been spoofing news outlets to spread misinformation and fake news about the election, but they have also been impersonating registration and donation pages to access individuals’ personal data and funds.
“For example, researchers found over 17,200 suspicious web domains related to Donald Trump,” said Mazin. “These included close misspellings of donaldjtrump[.]com, like donalbjtrump[.]com and donaldjtrump[.]top, and of official Republican fundraising platform winred[.]com, like winred[.]online and winred[.]today.”
However, according to Mazin, “Recognizing digital impersonation scams is not always easy, and many people fall for them, regardless of age or educational background. As such, be sure to only interact with trusted entities, and only through their official portals. Verify an organization’s credibility by looking it up, call the official number to see if it matches the information provided, and manually enter web addresses instead of clicking email links.”
Yinglian Xie, CEO and co-founder of DataVisor, agrees and suggests being ultra circumspect when it comes to fake candidate donation websites, or “AI supercharging scams.” “To validate a URL, ensure the domain name matches the official site and starts with ‘https://,’ said Xie. “Inspect the URL for unusual characters or paths, review site content for quality, and use online tools for reputation checks. Verify the SSL certificate by clicking the padlock icon, and compare the URL with links from official sources.”
4. Phony Surveys and Polls
You can’t look at any information source without seeing dozens of poll results right now. However, if you choose to take part in a poll or survey or sign a petition, you’ll need to be cautious about providing any specific identifying information. As AARP states, “Age is one thing, your birth date is another. Decline to provide your name, address, email address, Social Security number or driver’s license number.” Or, as Kain recommends, simply ignore any requests to participate.
“Fake surveys and polls are used to gather personal information or to carry out political donation scams at a later time,” said Kain. “The personal information collected is used for identity theft and voter registration manipulation. Sometimes scammers will offer monetary rewards or other prizes for participation, but they will require you to ‘just pay for shipping’ by providing your payment information.”
No matter the scam, the best way to avoid an ‘election’ scam might be what Waldman recommends: “Listen to your gut, it’s a free form of protection built into everyone. If it feels bad, it likely is.”
Now Is the Time To Take Precautions
In 2024, you should already be practicing good cybersecurity hygiene (not clicking on suspicious links; avoiding giving password or account information), knowing who you’re interacting with (verifying legitimate websites and seller information; doing your research) and if making a transaction, being careful how you pay (never e-transferring $ directly to a seller; avoiding pre-paid gift card payment).
Although most of the latest scams are twists on existing ones and the measures that have protected you for years still apply, be aware of any “new” types of attacks during election season. Fraudsters know people are most vulnerable when they’re desperate, scared or caught up with emotion, and they may use the growing tension of the election and pressure tactics to prey on their victims.
The time has come to take these scams seriously, whether there’s an election being fought or not. It’s up to you to update your cybersecurity. “It’s important to re-think account security and move away from focusing on solely using a username and password to protect your accounts,” Mangione says. “Physical hardware security keys (like Yibico’s YubiKey) are proven to prevent even the most sophisticated phishing attacks as they require the attacker to physically have the key in order to login.”
Additionally, now is the time to be extra cautious of the network you’re using. “When possible, always avoid public Wi-Fi and use other solutions such as a secured personal hotspot or VPN, which will make it difficult for third-parties to determine your identity or location,” Mangione added.
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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