DENVER — Coloradans are reporting an uptick in text messages like these that they claim are from political campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
Here are some example messages.
💬 “We asked you 6 times if you support Kamala Harris…but you never answered the survey! 🙁 “
💬 “If Kamala wins PA, she wins everything…”
The messages are often “urgent” fundraising calls with links to donation sites and claims like “we match 700% of all donations.”
Paul Beresis said he received five cases on Wednesday morning alone.
“Look at this,” Beresis said, showing a message addressed to someone named “Kimberly.” “It’s like non-stop.”
However, it became clear that many texts did not come from reliable sources.
“Voters have been inundated with text messages and other solicitations from political action committees claiming to support the vice president and to defeat Donald Trump,” Harris-Waltz campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in a statement. ” These are financial scams by bad actors trying to take advantage of the sense of urgency Democrats are feeling at this moment. The campaign is urging supporters to be careful when donating. ”
The campaign said the only committees raising money directly for our campaign are the Harris Presidential Campaign Fund, the Harris Victory Fund, and the Harris Action Fund.
“Don’t reply. Urgency is the enemy,” Cybersecurity CEO Mitch Tannenbaum said, adding that advances in artificial intelligence will make it easier to tell if a text is from a trusted source. He said it was not easy.
“The question is, what percentage of the money you donate actually goes to the cause you think you’re contributing to?” Tannenbaum asked. “Most of what they call fraud, 90% of the money goes to the people doing the fundraising and 10% goes to the campaign.”
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If your organization is legitimate, recent state and federal regulations offer some protections against unwanted texts, including opt-out options, said Allie Belknap, executive director of Common Cause Colorado. It is said that there is. Legitimate sources of information before this election.
“The best way to delay or stop these text messages is to vote early, because then they will be deleted,” Belknap said. “And they don’t want to waste time texting people who have already voted. They want to reach people who haven’t voted yet.”
Federal Communications Commission rules state that using an autodialer to send political text messages to a cell phone requires the prior explicit consent of the called party. Messages sent manually can be sent without prior consent.
“The other thing I would recommend is that when you sign up for email or text messages, whether it’s during an election or not, make sure you’re aware of what you’re signing up for.” Belknap said. “The fine print might say, ‘Hello, you’re subscribed to text messages from us as well as from our partners.’
If someone receives an unsolicited text, please report the sender by forwarding it to 7726 (or “spam”).
Tannenbaum warns consumers not to click on links because they may install malware on their phones. He also said to avoid replying “STOP” to messages, as this may prompt a response from the scammer.
“If you want to donate, you can go to the campaign website and at least they will receive almost 100% of what you donate,” he said.
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