As the US general election approaches, scammers are exploiting heightened emotions to perpetuate a number of financial scams. Don't let your desire to help your favorite candidate allow these thieves make you into a victim.

 

Scammers mimic the names, images, logos, and slogans of candidates to fraudulently solicit campaign contributions, sell merchandise (which is never delivered), or steal victim personally identifiable information that can be used for other fraud.

The FBI alert specifically warms about the following scams:

 

Campaign Investment Pool Scheme

Victims are promised a return on their campaign contribution dollars if they invest in a pool to fund the candidate's campaign. The pool is guaranteed to grow and be returned to the victims after the candidate wins. Victims are also encouraged to recruit others to invest in the pool to increase their share of the payout.

 

Scam Political Action Committees

Victims are contacted by a scammer who misleads the victim to believe the scammer is affiliated with a legitimate Political Action Committee (PAC), such as a Super PAC or candidate’s campaign committee. The victim is duped into believing they are making a legal campaign contribution to a legitimate PAC but instead the scammers keep the funds for themselves and have no affiliation with the specified PAC.

 

Merchandise Online Purchase Scam

Victims are enticed to purchase merchandise with the logo of a political candidate though the company is not associated with the political campaign and does not ship the purchased product. This is a classic "non-shipment scam" or "non-delivery fraud" scheme taking advantage of victim's interest in the 2024 election.

 

Scam Voter Registration

Victims receive a text message or email stating they are not registered to vote in their state and encouraging them to click a link that takes the victim to a fraudulent state voter registration page. The victim may or may not already be registered to vote with their state. This scheme is a means to steal personal information for identity theft and potentially to further target victims for additional scams.

 

Don't Become A Victim:

 

To avoid becoming a victim, be sure to follow Phool Phisher's Golden Phool Rules.

 

Additionally, you can check the registration status of a Political Action Committee on the Federal Election Commission website.

 

Check your voter registration status at www.vote.gov.

 

To see the full FBI alert, click here.