Most Political Campaign Texts Aren’t Scams, Experts Say

The messages just keep coming, often in all caps. 

They might say something like: “6X-MATCH SAVE PENNSYLVANIA,” or “Horrible: If Ted Cruz and Kari Lake win, Kamala’s Majority is GONE. 5X-MATCH TO SAVE THE SENATE. DONATE.” 

They also might ask for campaign contributions for a candidate running for the state legislature or even running to be your local sheriff.

It’s not your imagination: We’re getting a lot more of these political fundraising texts than we used to. According to researchers from the cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, political spam volumes have risen 67% since June, when they were already on the rise.

The good news is while these messages may look potentially scammy, the vast majority of them are just spammy, says Stuart Jones, director of Proofpoint’s Cloudmark division.

They’ve just taken a page out of the scammers’ playbook. Just like the online cybercriminals looking to steal your money or personal information, campaigns are hoping you’ll hand over a donation before you have a chance to think twice about it.

“The campaigns want you to react quickly,” Jones said. “(Just like the scammers) they try to drive an emotional response, so there is some similarity there. It’s kind of the blessing and the curse of mobile messaging.”

Jones said both cybercriminals and political campaigns are increasingly moving to mobile platforms, because that’s where their targets are. The vast majority of American voters now have smartphones. Messages that come to them can be seen and responded to within a few minutes, much faster than if they had been sent as emails.

All of that aside, there’s nothing stopping scammers from masquerading as a political action committee or a campaign, and consumers looking to donate should make sure that their money is going where they think it is, he said.

Messages that, for example, promise large amounts of matching funds if you donate in the next 10 minutes, should be ignored. Instead of clicking on a link in a text, go directly to the campaign or PAC’s website by googling it or typing it directly into your browser.

Replying “STOP” should make the messages stop coming. Numbers also can be individually blocked and reported as junk.

And when it comes to PACs, just because one is registered doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. Voters need to do some research and vet a PAC before giving money to it.

Unfortunately, that’s something these text-based campaigns can make tough. Links in several fundraising text messages analyzed by CNET led to sites supported by the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue. But it was unclear, particularly on the relatively small screen of an average-size phone, which PACs were behind them.

ActBlue, which is technically a registered PAC but functions as a secure payment platform for grassroots donations, said Thursday that it doesn’t send emails or texts or do any fundraising of its own for candidates. Groups that use its platform to raise money must abide by ActBlue’s terms of service, which prohibits scams. But the platform doesn’t actively vet the claims made by campaigns and PACs in their messages and on their ActBlue sites. 

“Our nonprofit platform is designed with transparency and empowerment in mind to give donors full control to contribute to candidates, committees and organizations they choose, while enforcing strict antifraud compliance policies,” ActBlue said in its statement.

WinRed, a Republican-leaning site that also facilitates PAC and campaign donations, didn’t return an email seeking comment.

With the campaigns in their final few weeks and many races exceptionally tight, Jones expects political spam volumes to keep rising. Voters annoyed with the messages are going to have a lot of deleting and blocking to do.

“And certainly, if it looks suspicious and you’re not sure if it’s legitimate, please report it,” he said.