Smishing Alert: Political Surveys and Donation Requests Smishing Scam

TrainMyParent.com
Feb 27
2 min read

Updated: Oct 1

US Political Party Icons (donkey and elephant) — Be cautious of political requests for donations, or to participate in surveys.

Some of the more effective smishing (SMS-text based phishing) scams we have been seeing lately stem from the political divide that the United States is currently experiencing, and the deep emotional response felt when reading about a passionate political topic.

We have been receiving smishing scams that appear to be from governors and political parties, especially soon after yet another scandal, overreach or assassination attempt, asking us for donations or to complete political surveys. These political survey and donation request texts should be viewed as smishing attempts, and should not be responded to. You should report the text as SPAM (or forward it to SPAM - 7726) and block the number.

Some samples include:

Texts supposedly from political action committees (PACs), framing the other party as reckless, extremist, and dangerous to our democracy, with a request to Act Now (a sense of urgency) and asking for donations.
Well-known state governors and local officials have been pleading for our support, "personally" asking for political contributions or for us to complete a survey as soon as possible (a sense of urgency).
Breaking news of certain recent political poll results that need to be verified independently, and asking us to confirm the data by responding to their survey

Remember, going to the wrong websites can introduce malware onto your computer or mobile device.

What if you indeed want to donate to your political party or a particular candidate? Go ahead, but not by clicking on these potential smishing attempts! Instead, after reporting the text as SPAM and blocking the number, use your trusty search engine (Google, Bing, Firefox etc.) and find your candidate's official website or the political party's home page, and donate from there.

Learn how you can protect yourself or your family by enrolling in the Complete Internet Security Basics and Phishing Awareness Course for Parents on TrainMyParent.com

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