By the time ballots are counted for this year’s midterm elections, Americans will have received an estimated 60 billion political text messages. A single person would have read 170 messages on average. Candidates will have spent more than $11 billion on their campaigns.
But it’s not just campaign spending you need to pay attention to. The flurry of political calls, texts, and ads creates a perfect cover for scammers, said Ron Kerbs, CEO of AI fraud prevention company Kidas.
“A fraudulent call doesn’t necessarily stand out when you’re receiving legitimate political outreach at the same time,” he warned.
Americans should be on alert and play defense. Let unknown calls go to voicemail, verify calls and texts from people who claim to be candidates or affiliated with political campaigns, and take a moment to think things through before giving anyone money or personal information.
Scammers can use elections to steal money
Unfortunately, being on a Do Not Call list won’t keep you from getting fooled by an election scam. Most political communications are exempt from the official Do Not Call registry, the national opt-out database for telemarketing communications.
Campaigns do have to be careful not to violate federal restrictions on automated and prerecorded calls, including texts and calls made without prior consent. But the exceptions can create general confusion for voters trying to figure out if a pollster or campaign volunteer is real.
Scam texts versus scam calls
Scam texts are certainly a concern for voters, Kerbs said. A recent public service announcement from the FBI warns of midterm-related scams involving stolen “names, images, logos, and slogans of candidates to fraudulently solicit campaign contributions, sell merchandise that is never delivered, or steal personally identifiable information.”
Voters should remember the age-old advice not to click any suspicious links sent to them, even from numbers that seem legit.
But election phone calls may pose an even greater challenge for many Americans.
“When someone hears a familiar voice, particularly a candidate or public official they recognize, they may be more inclined to trust what they’re hearing,” Kerbs said. “With AI, scammers can now recreate those voices convincingly, making it much harder for the average person to recognize when a call is fake.”
Scammers, like everyone, have access to publicly available data on candidates that can be used to train or generate highly realistic AI voices, Kerb says. “Scammers can then combine that cloned voice with caller ID spoofing, making the call appear to come from a legitimate campaign or political organization.”
The threat of voice clones and deepfake audio of political candidates isn’t a hypothetical. In 2024, AI-generated robocalls impersonating then-President Joe Biden were sent to New Hampshire voters, urging them to skip the primary election. The calls led to a federal crackdown on “junk calls,” including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expansion of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to effectively ban unsolicited AI robocalls.
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Common election-related phone scams
Election scammers have different motivations for reaching out to voters. Kidas describes at least three ways scammers use the election season to fool you:
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Impersonating election officials: Callers pretending to be election workers may try to solicit personal information from voters or influence votes under the guise that something is wrong with your voter registration or ballot.
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Fake pollsters: Scammers impersonating official pollsters may also contact you to collect sensitive information.
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Donation scams: Bad actors may pose as official campaigns or as a political action committee (PAC) to solicit donations from unsuspecting voters.
There are also a few red flags that could signal to a voter that the person on the other end is not motivated by a sense of civic participation.
A call can sound completely legitimate and still be fraudulent.
Urgency is the biggest red flag, scam experts warn. If someone calls saying your registration is expiring or a ballot needs to be verified ASAP, end the call, advises Kerbs.
Additionally, election officials will never ask for money, Social Security numbers, verification codes, or other personal information over the phone.
Other red flags include requests for Social Security numbers, banking information, verification codes or payment through gift cards, cryptocurrency or other unusual methods.
Voters should also be suspicious of anyone claiming they can update voter registration over the phone in exchange for sensitive information or a payment. Registering to vote is free, and voters should use their official state election resources to check their status or make changes.
“One of the most important things to understand is that a scam call may not have an obvious red flag at first,” warns Kerbs. “A call can sound completely legitimate and still be fraudulent, so voters shouldn’t rely solely on whether something sounds suspicious.”
Bad actors may be trying to influence or tamper with elections, as was the case with the fake Biden robocalls. But they may also just be out to get your data or cash. Either way, it’s important to keep yourself safe.
How to protect yourself from election scams
“It’s no longer enough to identify a suspicious phone number,” warned Kerbs. “You also need to consider what’s happening during the call, including whether the voice is artificially generated and whether the conversation shows signs of fraudulent activity.”
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Do not rely solely on the name, number, or voice you hear on the phone.
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Hang up and verify. Before providing information (or money), go to a second source. Check directly with your state or local election office. Make donations on official campaign websites, not over the phone or via links.
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Use your phone’s screening tools, with discretion. Turn on features to silence unknown callers, screen calls, and filter out spam. But remember these are not foolproof, and scammers often bypass such detectors.
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Let calls go to voicemail first. Don’t feel obligated to answer. Scammers rely on urgency, so a voicemail can give yourself the space you need to think and confirm.
Most importantly, never provide sensitive information over the phone, including seemingly innocuous things like your driver’s license number. Scammers may claim they need that information to verify your identity or confirm a donation. Don’t believe them, says Kerbs.
“Even seemingly harmless details can be useful to scammers when combined with information they’ve already collected. You don’t need to answer every question just because someone claims to represent a campaign or election office.”
Source: https://mashable.com/life/how-to-spot-election-scams
