Fake political calls, texts and videos are nothing new. They’ve been flooding Americans’ phones for months. Some have a simple goal: Steal your money. (I’ll pass along a few tips for spotting those below.) Others are looking for detailed personal info, like a text scam warning there’s a problem with your ballot.
Now, with the election just days away, scammers’ goals are different, and their latest “campaigns” are designed to keep Americans from casting their votes.
Phony election texts spreading
Their text messages range from “The election is canceled” to “Non-citizens can vote this year.” Some scammy texts say you can’t vote in your district anymore, or they give false voting times and locations. Ignore these!
In other cases, texts and calls might not be true scams, but they’re from political groups using outdated info. These messages fall along the lines of “Someone at your address hasn’t voted yet.”
Here’s an example hitting North Carolina voters: "A voter at [residential address] may not have voted. Vote here: [website address]."
If you get something like this, ignore it. To check your voting status, go to your city’s official website or phone line. For easy access, just search “ballot status + [city or county].” Or use this search at USA.gov.
Here’s what the page looks like in Maricopa County, where I live.
‘We need your money now!’
Political campaigns are doing last-minute pushes for funding. Before you open your wallet, read these do’s and don’ts for keeping your money safe:
- Do verify it’s a real organization. Here’s a list of registered PACs maintained by the Federal Election Commission.
- Do search for the PAC name. Hey, it’s worth it to see if anything shady pops up. Some funnel money to their own advisors and marketing budgets, not to the candidates they claim to support. This page is useful, too.
- Do use a credit card if you donate. Checks and debit cards don’t have the same scam protections.
- Don’t give payment info over the phone. Find the official website and donate there.
- Don’t click links. That includes those in emails, texts or any other sources. When in doubt, visit the candidate’s or party’s official campaign website.
Pro tip: TikTok banned political fundraising across its platform in 2022. Anything you see there asking you to donate is a scam — or it’s someone skirting the rules, and you don’t want to be involved with that, either.
Is it an AI deepfake or real?
I’d be doing you a disservice not to pass along these tips. Election fakes are particularly tricky to spot because there’s so much public footage of politicians speaking in front of similar backgrounds for fraudsters to copy. But you can still use these guidelines to verify if a video or image is AI or not:
- Backgrounds: A vague, blurred background, smooth surfaces or lines that don’t match up are immediate red flags that an image is AI-generated.
- Context: Use your head — it’s fake if the scenery doesn’t align with the current climate, season or what’s physically possible.
- Proportions: Check for objects that look mushed together or seem too large or too small. The same goes for features, especially ears, fingers and feet.
- Angle: Deepfakes are the most convincing when the subject faces the camera directly. Glitches may appear once a person starts to turn to the side and move.
- Text: AI can’t spell. Look for fake words on signs and labels.
- Chins: Yep, you heard me. The lower half of the face is the No. 1 giveaway on AI-generated candidate videos. It’s subtle, but check to see if their chin or neck moves unnaturally or in an exaggerated way.
- Fingers and hands: Look for weird positions, too many fingers, extra-long digits or hands out of place.
One more word of wisdom
I get that some of these messages, images and videos are shocking or even hilarious — but they’re putting our elections at risk. Don’t contribute to the “Great American Fake‑off.”
If you’re going to share something you know is AI-generated, call it out clearly in your text or post. You’re better off not sharing it at all.
