Here’s how to avoid falling victim to scams amid uptick in texts, calls from political groups

PITTSBURGH — As we inch closer to the November election, you may notice an uptick in calls and texts from political groups looking to win your vote. But is there any way to opt out?

The frequent messages can be annoying and they can even make you a victim.

11 Investigates’ Jatara McGee looked into that answer and found out how you can protect yourself from potential scams.

“I’ve gotten texts from all of my favorite politicians as well asking me for various things,” said Ben Erdel, the vice president and general manager of Equifax’s identity theft protection.

As we inch closer to election day, he says Americans should commit to being vigilant.

Equifax’s team identified five categories of political call and text scams:

1. Fake Polls and Surveys
2. Donation Scams
3. Impersonation Scams
4. Questionable Petitions
5. Voter Registration Scams

Erdel says just like you fact-check claims from candidates, you need to verify political calls and texts are legit.

“The best approach to take is if it’s an inbound request, go straight to the source,” he said.

So if someone sends you a poll you’d like to complete, don’t trust the link.

If you want to donate to a candidate, don’t respond to that text to do it. Donate to campaigns directly and never give out too much personal information.

“Unsolicited, a phone number, a text message that you don’t recognize. That’s inbound, and those are always higher risk,” Erdel said.

If you want to stop political groups from contacting you, unfortunately, the do-not-call list doesn’t apply to political calls or texts, but you can probably limit them.

Any time you get a call or text, Erdel advises you to block the number it came from.

For texts specifically, you can change your phone settings to weed out messages from numbers you don’t recognize.

But that might mean you’ll miss texts from someone who isn’t in your contact list.

And if you get a political call or text that you think breaks the law, you can file a complaint with the FCC.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group