Dodging political scammers during election year
Mar 29, 2024, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:02 am
A political text messages sent out in support of State Senate nominee Christian Burridge. (Andrew Hull/KSL Newsradio)
(Andrew Hull/KSL Newsradio)
SALT LAKE CITY – During election years, voters can become targets of political scammers.
Voters are bombarded every election season with emails, texts, and mail from all parties. The goal is to drum up support for a specific candidate, and scammers are all too aware.
Scammers try to slip in when campaigns begin making the runs; however, it’s important to remember that any official campaign outreach will only ask for basic information.
“If they’re asking you for personal identifiable information,” warned Melani Fox of the Better Business Bureau, “such as your date of birth, social security number, or banking information, then that should draw up a red flag.”
Fox said these scammers do their homework and they’ll harvest anything you post online to make their pitch sound legitimate.
“Even if you have a private profile, don’t put out things that are too personal. Someone could reach out and call you, and then you think, ‘Oh, they know me!’ ”
Even if a scammer isn’t calling, be wary of links. Most links attached to scam texts or emails wind up downloading malware to your device.
No matter if it’s over your cell phone, computer, or home phone, any scam should be reported to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker.
