Scammy campaign texts on the rise (Updated)
Friday, Aug 2, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
With voters riveted on the 2024 election, fraudsters are flooding people with texts and emails that seem like campaign solicitations but link to fake websites that only line scammers’ pockets.
Steve Bernas, who heads the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, says scammers have pounced in recent weeks — after the attempted assassination of Republican nominee Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s decision to not seek reelection and Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in as the presumed Democratic nominee.
Bernas says he’s seen a rise in the number of reports to the BBB’s ScamTracker tool that lets people report scams.
“The con artists have really come out of the woodwork,” he says.
He suggests going directly to campaign websites if you want to give money to a candidate.
Knock wood, I haven’t received any scam campaign texts, but I do get a lot of candidate fundraising texts. You?
…Adding… Yikes…
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 12:59 pm:
We’ve gotten them. We delete all texts from outside our contacts list.
- Nope. - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:03 pm:
Knock wood, I haven’t received any scam campaign texts, but I do get a lot of candidate fundraising texts. You?
How would I know? I get that you know most of the soliciting people personally, but how would a schlub like me ever know until after I was scammed? This seems so clever, that the safest bet is to never respond to the text links. Which makes the whole texting thing kind of stupid?
I don’t even know this was a thing.
- Alton Sinkhole - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:06 pm:
Bad actors like this harm the whole industry
- Alton Sinkhole - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:07 pm:
Also isn’t BBB pretty sketchy in its own right? People upset by this should contact state or national consumer protection agencies not a pay to play org that pretends to be looking out for consumers
- Norseman - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:10 pm:
My problem is not what where to donate, it’s being inundated with text messages by other candidates and organizations who purchased that campaign’s donors list.
- thechampaignlife - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:22 pm:
===Bad actors like this harm the whole industry===
Sad for an industry that already has zero credibility
- Benjamin - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:25 pm:
I’ve received tons of solicitation texts, but I have no way of knowing whether they’re legitimate or not. I typically ignore them, anyhow.
- Alton Sinkhole - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 1:31 pm:
Zero accountability is a bit of a stretch. Plenty of PACs and organizations are able to do fundraising without resorting to scammy tactics and spend the money correctly. But I get it, it’s easier to just write off the whole grassroots fundraising industry.
- Huh? - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 2:04 pm:
Any texts from people or phone numbers we don’t know are deleted and blocked. Any emails are marked as spam and deleted.
I don’t donate to any political campaign because I don’t want to be inundated with spam messages from other campaigns.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 3:23 pm:
I started to see a real uptick in 202 text numbers. I was starting to ask myself wait are these legit and to go to the websites. My work spends a lot of time and $$ training us to beware of cold contacts of any sort.