LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – With less than a week until Election Day, you may find your phone cluttered with text messages urging you to donate to political candidates or check your voter registration status. .
Experts warn that many of these could be scams trying to steal your personal information.
Better Business Bureau experts said scammers prey on emotions. The more people invest in elections and want to be heard, the more fraudsters will exploit that desire to build trust. During this campaign season, many of these scams come in the form of text messages.
WAVE 3 interviewed several voters in line at the Clark County Justice Center Wednesday, many of whom said they had received text messages containing suspicious links, and all of whom said they would ignore them.
“It’s very likely that you will be redirected to a fake website and asked for personal information that they will then give to scammers to steal your identity,” said BBB’s Heather Clary.
The BBB notes that while there are many legitimate campaign messages and surveys out there, situations can arise when someone asks for more information than your name or political affiliation, or when a polling organization offers a prize for completing a survey. He said that may change. That won’t happen.
“If they start asking for information like your date of birth or social security number, you can be pretty sure it’s a scam and you don’t want to interact with people like that,” Clary said. .
Scammers use that information to get credit cards or loans in your name, Clary said.
If you want to make a political donation, it’s best to go directly to the candidate’s website.
In the age of instant messaging and social media, one of the concerns is that uninformed people will fall prey to scams.
“My father has been scammed several times on Facebook,” said voter Brianna Frazier. “I try to be like, ‘Don’t click. Or just ask if it’s legal before you do something like that.'”
BBB said it’s best to talk to your loved ones and trust your instincts when in doubt.
If you notice a scam, you can report it to the BBB Scam Tracker.
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