Published on: September 13, 2024
Scammers are taking advantage of the tense political election in the US to scam voters.
These scams involve sending phishing emails riddled with patriotic language, calls to action, and fake election information. These letters are written with pseudo-patriotic passion to evoke strong emotions in the reader. Their ultimate goal is to entice victims to send them money, promising them a large sum of money in return, if they can send a small fee first.
Normally, you’d associate this type of scam with fake lottery winnings, gift cards, or emails from a far-off prince claiming he’ll make you rich if you pay his bank fee. The truth is that scammers will capitalize on anything they think might trick someone into falling for their bait.
Several versions of the scam have been reported. One of the strategies they used was to present a fake raffle for Kamala Harris voters. The email would express gratitude for supporting Harris’s campaign and claim that you have the opportunity to be entered into a raffle for $200,000. All you have to do is pay a small fee first.
Another common form of the scam preys on people’s distrust of the Trump administration. Scammers will email you, claiming to represent Kamala Harris. In the email, it details that Trump’s administration blocked a financial package that was intended to be delivered to you. If you respond now and pay them to unlock it for you, you’ll receive a $20 million reward.
Both scams use urgent language and lavish prize pools to encourage people to send their information and payment details without thinking about how odd the emails are. This is a common strategy that phishing scammers employ, since it pushes people to make foolish decisions.
Remember that no government administration will ever email you directly with promises of a reward, especially while asking you for money at the same time. Raffles, lotteries, and “blocked” financial packages are not things a government will ever email to you.