A donation intended to help your preferred candidate win the upcoming midterm elections could instead send your hard-earned money directly to a criminal.
Americans are being flooded with unsolicited calls, texts, emails, television ads and mailers, many claiming that even a small contribution could help a favored candidate prevail. Other appeals request $200, $500 or even $1,000 to keep a party in power or remove its establishment leaders.
Although many voters view helping their preferred candidate secure a seat in Congress as a civic responsibility, cybersecurity expert James Knight advises against responding to donation requests received by text or email.
Knight told Our News Outlet that he believes nearly all political fundraising messages Americans receive come from organizations that do not actually pass the money along to the candidates named in the appeals.
“My guess is 99 percent,” Knight said when asked how many political donation advertisements are scams. “I get a ton of text messages, and I just put them in spam, no matter who they’re from. The volume is pretty bad.”
As these solicitations continue to fill inboxes, Knight also warned recipients not to click the “unsubscribe” link often included in emails, including those received through services such as Gmail.
“If you click unsubscribe in that email, it takes you to a website that could potentially attack the browser on your computer,” he said.
Knight’s concerns echo an FBI alert warning that scammers are targeting political donors across the country. Fraudsters may promise campaign merchandise that never arrives or collect voter information to sell or share with other criminals.
Voters have been urged to avoid texts and emails requesting midterm campaign donations because the money may never reach the named candidate (File Image)
Knight, who has more than 30 years of experience in digital security, said many political fundraising appeals come from political action committees, or PACs, rather than directly from candidate campaigns.
PACs raise and spend money to support or oppose candidates and political issues. While many operate legitimately, others do not.
Knight referred to some of the questionable operations as “ScamPACs.” These groups register with the Federal Election Commission, creating an official appearance while soliciting money under the promise of supporting a particular candidate or cause.
In reality, a large share of the money may be used for fundraising, consulting, salaries and other operating costs associated with running the organization.
A Reuters investigation found that a network of 31 PACs collected $83.1 million from January 2017 through mid-2019. Approximately 82 percent of that money went to eight fundraising companies.
The PACs reviewed in the investigation generally gave less than 10 percent of their receipts to candidates or causes. In some cases, the figure was below one percent.
For the 2022 election cycle, nonprofit organization OpenSecrets identified 86 potential scam PACs that each reported spending more than $100,000. At least half of the itemized spending reported by those groups was classified as fundraising expenses.
However, legitimate PACs may support candidates through independent expenditures instead of direct contributions. As a result, the absence of payments to campaigns alone does not prove that a PAC is fraudulent.
Millions of Americans have allegedly had their voter information taken and shared with groups seeking to collect and spend midterm donation money for their own purposes (Stock Image)
Knight said artificial intelligence has made fraudulent political texts and emails more difficult to identify by eliminating familiar clues such as spelling and grammatical errors.
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Scammers can use AI to impersonate government agencies, clone a candidate’s voice or make a message appear to have come from a trusted campaign.
A polished text or email, therefore, does not prove that the fundraising organization is legitimate or that it will use donations as promised.
Anyone considering a donation to a House or Senate candidate should first research the campaign or fundraising organization through the Federal Election Commission website, FEC.gov, Knight advised.
The website enables donors to examine the finances of registered committees, including how much they raise, where the money goes and what support they provide to candidates. It can also help voters locate a candidate’s officially registered campaign committee.
“Obviously, the best thing to do is avoid clicking any links in text messages, emails or phone calls. A lot of them are going to be fake,” Knight said.
The FBI has cautioned that even some registered PACs may be fraudulent and advised donors to examine whether an organization spends unusually large amounts on fundraising, consulting or administrative costs.
“There are a lot of scams involving these PACs,” Knight said.
“They promise fake merchandise—the latest Trump merchandise, or merchandise connected to whoever else—and it never arrives.”
“Other groups are simply trying to obtain your information. They claim it is needed for voter registration, but when you click the link and submit your data, it can lead to identity theft or another scam.”
Donors who provide both money and personal information to a ScamPAC may face a wave of additional emails, texts and calls long after the midterm elections have ended, Knight warned.
“They have your data and will continue calling you. Very quickly, you may hear from another hundred agencies or organizations asking for donations as well. There is very little you can do about it.”
Knight said leaving these contact lists can be challenging because donor information may be sold or shared with other organizations before victims have an opportunity to request its deletion.
He recommended ignoring suspicious calls, blocking the numbers, deleting unwanted texts and moving questionable emails to the spam folder without clicking links that could contain malware.
“Would you rather give the guy $20 or have your laptop infected with malware? I know which one I’d choose,” Knight joked.
An October 15 FBI bulletin also warned about a “campaign investment pool scheme” aimed at political donors.
The scheme promises victims a guaranteed return on donations placed into a candidate’s campaign pool, allegedly to be paid after the candidate wins.
“Victims are also encouraged to recruit others to invest in the pool to increase their share of the payout,” the FBI said.
The bureau emphasized that campaign donations are not investments and cannot be expected to grow in value or be returned.
