Scammers are taking advantage of the public’s interest in the upcoming midterm elections to make robocalls in which they pose as candidates asking for donations.  This particular scam can easily seem legitimate. Caller ID can be tricked through a technique called “spoofing” to make it appear to your Caller ID as if the call is coming from a candidate or some political organization and recordings of the candidate can also be incorporated into the call to make the call appear more legitimate.  And now through the use of AI the voice of the particular candidate can be cloned and used by scammers posing as the candidate.

Even more significantly, calls from political candidates and other political calls are exempt from the federal Do-Not-Call List, so it would be legal for you to get a call from a politician or political group seeking donations even if you are enrolled in the Do-Not-Call List.

So how do you protect yourself from being scammed?

TIPS

Whenever you receive a telephone call, you can never be sure as to who is really contacting you, so you should never give personal or financial information to anyone over the phone whom you have not called.

If you do wish to contribute to a political campaign, the best way to do this is by going to the candidate’s official website and make your contribution.  Even then, make sure that when you are giving your donation online that the website address begins with https instead of just http.  Https indicates that your communication is being encrypted for better security.

Finally, when making a donation, you should use a credit card rather than a debit card because if you are scammed it is easier to get your money refunded with a credit card than a debit card.

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