The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning to the public about scammers perpetrating four types of fraud schemes before the US general election.
Attackers are targeting victims across the US using candidates' names, images, logos, and slogans to fraudulently solicit campaign contributions, sell merchandise (which is never sent to the purchaser), or steal victims' personal information that can be used for other fraud.
The four types of most common fraud schemes are as follows:
- Campaign Investment Pool Scheme: Fraudsters lure victims to invest in a pool to fund the candidate's campaign and promise a return on their campaign attribution dollars. They also encourage their targets to recruit others to join and increase their share of the “payout.” The fake pool is “guaranteed to grow” and be returned to the victims after the candidate wins.
- Scam Political Action Committees: Scammers contact victims claiming to be affiliated with a legitimate Political Action Committee (PAC) or candidate’s campaign committee. The convincing narratives lead victims to believe they’re making a legal campaign contribution to a legitimate PAC, such as a Super PAC. However, fraudsters keep the funds and disappear.
- Merchandise Online Purchase Scam: Crooks harvest victims' interest in the 2024 election by enticing them to purchase fake merchandise with the logo of a political candidate. However, the fake storefronts are not associated with any political campaigns and do not ship any of the purchased products. The FBI calls it a classic “non-shipment scam” or “non-delivery fraud” scheme.
- Scam Voter Registration: Scammers send text messages or emails stating that the victims are not registered to vote in their state and encouraging them to click a link. The malicious link takes victims to a fraudulent state voter registration page, which steals personally identifiable information and potentially exposes them to further attacks and scams.
The FBI reminds citizens that donations to political campaigns do not act as investments. They will not increase in value and will not be returned.
“Be cautious when receiving any unsolicited calls, texts, emails, or surveys. Do not provide your personal information to persons you do not know. Do not click on unknown links, the FBI recommends.
You can check a Political Action or Party Committee's registration status on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website. However, the FBI noted that additional due diligence may be necessary because some scam PACs are known to be registered with the FEC.
“Research a company online before making any purchase by looking up customer reviews and BBB.org complaints,” the FBI’s alert reads.
The FBI encourages reporting fraudulent or suspicious activities to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov as quickly as possible.
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