Scammers seize on US election, but it’s not votes they want

PROVIDENCE,R.I.» The email from a political action committee seemed harmless: if you support Joe Biden, it urged, click here to make sure you’re registered to vote.

But Harvard University graduate student Maya James did not click. Instead, she Googled the name of the soliciting PAC. It didn’t exist — a clue the email was a phishing scam from swindlers trying to exploit the U.S. presidential election as a way to steal peoples’ personal information.

“There was not a trace of them,” James, 22, said. “It was a very inconspicuous email, but I noticed it used very emotional language, and that set off alarm bells.” She deleted the message, but related her experience on social media to warn others.

American voters face an especially pivotal, polarized election this year, and scammers here and abroad are taking notice — posing as fundraisers and pollsters, impersonating candidates and campaigns, and launching fake voter registration drives. It’s not votes they’re after, but to win a voter’s trust, personal information and maybe a bank routing number.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Better Business Bureau and cybersecurity experts have recently warned of new and increasingly sophisticated online fraud schemes that use the election as an entry, reflecting both the proliferation of political misinformation and intense interest in this year’s presidential and Senate races.

“Psychologically, these scams play to our desire to do something — to get involved, to donate, to take action,” said Sam Small, chief security officer at ZeroFOX, a Baltimore, Maryland-based digital security firm.