Did you get a textual content message saying you are not registered to vote? It might be a rip-off.
Voter registration fraud is among the three commonest scams throughout an election cycle, alongside cons involving political donations and faux polls, in keeping with the Nationwide Affiliation of Secretaries of State. Scammers sometimes contact victims by cellphone, textual content, or e-mail — and typically in individual — to say they want private info to replace voter registration varieties.
In Shasta County, California, the county clerk and election officers warned final week {that a} textual content message asking recipients to click on a hyperlink to register to vote was a rip-off. Officers mentioned clicking the hyperlink may set off malware and put the sufferer’s private info in danger.
On the opposite facet of the nation, election officers in Lake County, Florida, issued an analogous warning in March. County Supervisor Alan Hays instructed residents to “be vigilant this election cycle for political scams that may mislead unsuspecting people right into a frightful expertise that may be troublesome to beat,” native media reported.
Clerks in Salt Lake Metropolis and San Francisco have issued comparable warnings as properly.
The Nationwide Affiliation of Secretaries of State says voters ought to examine to see if the communication is coming from native or state election officers and be cautious if anybody asks for fee to finish voter registration paperwork.
The Federal Commerce Fee recommends reporting any unsolicited texts or calls from somebody who says they want your Social Safety quantity or private or monetary info to register you to vote. Should you ship your private info to somebody you do not know and assume you might be the sufferer of a rip-off, you may go to the FTC’s id theft restoration web page to report the fraud.
The FTC recommends contacting your native election workplace or checking the US Election Help Fee’s Nationwide Voter Registration Kind to find out whether or not your state requires your Social Safety quantity for voter registration.
