DENVER — Coloradans are reporting a surge in text messages such as these claiming to be from political campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
Some examples of the messages:
💬 "We've asked SIX times if you support Kamala Harris... but you never completed the poll! :-( "
💬 "If Kamala wins PA, she wins the whole damn thing..."
Often, the messages are "urgent" fundraising calls with links to donation sites and include claims such as, "We're 700% matching all donations."
Paul Belessis said he received five on Wednesday morning alone.
"Look at these," Belessis said, showing his messages addressed to someone named "Kimberly." "It's like non-stop."
However, it has become clear that many texts are not from reputable sources.
“Voters have been inundated with text messages and other solicitations from political action committees claiming to support the Vice President or working to defeat Donald Trump," Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Harris-Walz Campaign, said in a statement. "In reality, these are financial scams from bad actors trying to take advantage of the urgency Democrats are feeling in this moment. The campaign is urging our supporters to be careful when they donate."
The campaign stated that the only committees raising money directly for our campaign are Harris for President, Harris Victory Fund, and Harris Action Fund.
"Don't respond. Urgency is the enemy," said Mitch Tanenbaum, CEO of Cybersecurity, who said with the advancement of artificial intelligence, it is not easy to tell if the texts are from a reputable source.
"The question is, what percentage of the money that you contribute actually goes to the cause that you think you're contributing to?" asked Tanenbaum. "Most of these things that they're calling scams is 90% of the money goes to the folks that are fundraising, and 10% of the money goes to the cause."
If an organization is legitimate, recent state and federal regulations offer some protections against unwanted texts, such as an opt-out option, according to Aly Belknap, the executive director for Common Cause Colorado, who said there is an easy way to limit messages from legitimate sources before this election.
"To slow down or stop these text messages, the best thing you could do is vote early because then you'll be removed," said Belknap. "And they don't want to waste time texting folks who've already voted. They want to reach people who have not voted yet."
The Federal Communications Commission rules state that political text messages sent to a mobile phone using an autodialer require the called party's prior express consent. Messages sent manually can be sent without prior consent.
"The other thing I would recommend, and this is during election season and outside election season, is just being really discerning about what you're signing up for when you're signing up for emails, signing up for texts," said Belknap. "There might be fine print that says, 'hey, you're signing up for texts from us as well as our partners.'
If someone receives texts they didn't ask for, report the sender by forwarding them to 7726 (or "SPAM").
Tanenbaum warns consumers not to click on links because they could install malware on their phones. He also said not to reply "STOP" to messages in case that triggers a response from a scammer.
"If you want to donate, just go to the campaign's website, and then at least they get pretty much 100% of whatever it is you're donating," he said.
