The Midterm elections on Tuesday 8^th are fast approaching, and candidates are working round the clock to drum up support and collect campaign donations from their supporters. It’s a beautiful thing, democracy at work — what’s not so beautiful is scammers getting in on the act as well.

Recently we’d been tracking multiple cases of election campaign scams, in which scammers use the disguise of official campaign correspondence in an effort to steal money and personal details. Here’s what we’ve found:

The correspondence takes place by email and SMS text messages primarily. The scam involves the would-be victim clicking the link or embedded button in order to donate or “learn more”. Once they do so, the victim will be taken to one of these fake pages — at which point they could be the victim of monetary or data theft. We’ve detected just under 600,000 scam-related URLs in the last month alone — with most activity taking place in Texas, California, Oregon, Florida, and Arizona.

Sample SMS Templates:

• Dennis, This is no longer a difference of political opinions, its about SAVING AMERICA and restoring our GREATNESS or no longer having a country we recognize. Being an American Citizen after a loss in 2022 will not mean what it used to. A Democrat majority would never put your needs first, they would never create an economy we could be proud of, and our families would never be safe again. We just left a critical Senatorial Map Strategy meeting and we realized we dont have accurate data to win this election. We need you to update your  –  immediately. Please privately complete (     ) the Official Verified Citizens-Only 2022 Questionnaire by midnight tonight. >> <URL> Stop2End
• Far left special interest groups and cronies are trying to bankroll the Dems this election cycle and it is paying off. Republicans are not performing how they should be and we are running out of time. We are counting on our grassroots supporters like you, Friend to step up to the plate and push Republicans to victory. Pitch in $25 now. > <URL> stop=end

Malicious URLs to be on the lookout for:

• nrsc[.]app
• txting[.]io
• gored22[.]com
• electdems[.]us
• us-here[.]com
• 22-rep[.]com

A Helping Hand from Trend Micro Check

• Always double-check URLs and email addresses.
• When in doubt, reach out to official websites and HQ phone numbers.
• Strange payment methods (such as only PayPal) are a red flag.
• NEVER use links or buttons from unknown sources! Use Trend Micro Check to detect scams with ease: Trend Micro Check is an all-in-one browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!

Check out this page for more information on Trend Micro Check.

Have you received anything similar to the above? Let us know in the comments! And as ever, if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected. Also, please consider clicking the LIKE button below. Happy voting!