Q. Is BBB experiencing an increase in politically oriented scams now that the election is near?
A. Scammers are opportunists who take advantage of whatever is in the news or being chatted about on social media. It’s common around this time of year to receive phone calls from political pollsters asking questions about who you plan to vote for, and scammers mimic those legitimate calls.
The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers that the upcoming elections are likely to generate loads of scammers pretending to be pollsters, campaign volunteers, fundraisers, and even candidates. Here are some common political scams and frauds to watch out for:
Fundraising: You get a call from someone claiming to represent a political candidate, raising money to support the campaign. They may be collecting funds for a specific cause, such as healthcare reform, or on behalf of a group of people, such as veterans. Targets report that callers are typically pushy and demand immediate action. Even if the caller is not a scammer, some groups may be poorly managed and not actually spend the money the way they describe on the phone. You can check Give.org to see if the organization meets accreditation standards.
Polling: The call is from someone claiming to be conducting a political survey. The pollster wants to ask you questions about the upcoming election. In exchange for a few minutes of your time and your opinions, you will get a gift card or other reward. Typically, after asking several legitimate-sounding survey questions, the caller then asks you to provide your credit card number to pay for the shipping and taxes of the “prize” you have won. Legitimate polling companies rarely offer prizes for participating in a survey, and none would ask for a credit card number.