Police in Takoma Park warn residents to be cautious of three common election season scams as November approaches.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, many receive texts from political parties and candidates. Unfortunately, scammers exploit political fervor by deceiving individuals into divulging their personal information.
Most of these messages are sent by political campaigns to rally support from registered voters in their area. However, some could be from scammers attempting to deceive people into giving them money under the guise of a donation.
“Generally, you shouldn’t trust anything that shows up unsolicited, even if you think it might be safe,” said Takoma Park Police spokesperson Cathy Plevy. “Right off the bat, you should know to never respond to any text that randomly comes to your phone.”
The three most common election season scams include political donation scams, fake surveys/polls, and voter registration scams.
“In the text, you can see it wants users to take a poll by clicking a link,” Plevy said. “Political survey scams will often ask for fake polling. Clicking on a link could bring you to a page offering prizes for participating, but then they require users to enter their credit card information to cover the shipping for the prize. That’s a glaring red flag that should make everyone stop. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true (like a free gift for a survey), it probably is.”
If it’s an unsolicited text, do not reply. Contact your local election offices or the Better Business Bureau at bbb.org.
“The best thing to do? Don’t click and don’t respond,” Plevy said.
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