Better Business Bureau Offers Tips to Avoid Election Season Scams

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (WAFB) – The countdown to November 8 Election Day is approaching.

Tuesday, October 18th is the last day to register to vote online for the General Election. This also means that scammers are after your personal information.

Carmen Million, president and CEO of the South Central Louisiana Better Business Bureau, said the first thing to do when registering to vote is to make sure you’re on the right site. Click here to view its website.

Million said to check your email too. Candidates need your help and want to know your perspective through polls and surveys. They urge you to support their efforts and influence their future by donating, participating, or sharing information.

According to Million, scammers are mimicking campaign emails to compromise online safety.

You may receive polls, surveys, or donation requests that appeal to your beliefs to take action. From there, they try to steal your personal information.

Research the organizations you communicate with and beware of people trying to rush you into a decision before donating or providing personal information.

Criminals pretending to be affiliated with your political party or candidate may try to scam you over the phone by:

• answer survey questions – Then ask for personal information such as social security number and date of birth. Sometimes we even offer prizes or gift cards in exchange for your time, and you may be asked to provide your credit card number to cover shipping costs. Learn how to identify fake surveys.
• donate funds – Provide your account information and they will catch you. Learn about donating wisely to crowdfunding campaigns.
• register to vote – Scammers may steal your personally identifiable information by saying you are not registered and offering to help you with the process over the phone. Here’s how to verify your voter registration:.

It is common for actual candidates to contact the public using pre-recorded messages. Scammers use Voice Her clones to make them sound like genuine messages from candidates and encourage people to donate or share information. After listening to the message, people are redirected or forwarded to someone ready to delete their information and use it for malicious activity.

• View prizes as red flagsLegitimate poll providers do not typically offer prizes for completing surveys.
• Know what pollsters don’t need. They may ask for demographic information and which political party you most support, but they don’t need personal information such as date of birth, social security number or financial information. .
• I don’t answer numbers I don’t knowScammers can’t fool you if they can’t contact you.
• listen to your gut. If something seems wrong, protect yourself. If in doubt, check with your local elections office.
• Do not provide information in response to unsolicited messages. Any entity that needs your account and personal information already has them.
• Report Suspicious Activity BBB scam tracker.

Click here to report typos.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. all rights reserved.

.