Donating to a political campaign? How to recognize legit links, know where your money is going

CHICAGO (WLS) -- If you are flooded with political texts and emails asking you to donate money, you aren't alone.

Republicans and Democrats have raised $450 million in in donations in the month of July alone! How do you know if the links are legitimate, and where your money is really going? The ABC7 I-Team is finding out where your donation is going and how can you protect yourself from scams.

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Republican and Democratic texts and emails are flooding in, asking for a donation. If you click on donation links in texts or emails, you may think you are giving to a specific presidential candidate, but you may not be.

You could be giving to a political action committee, or PAC, which supports political causes and funds campaign ads. So, how do you know if you're giving directly to a candidate?

"If it's coming from a candidate, it will say the name of candidates committee. And there's actually rules requiring candidates to include their names in an official, authorized committee, so you would know that it's coming from the Trump campaign or the Harris campaign," said Campaign Legal Center Senior Director Erin Chlopak. "And likewise, if it's coming from a PAC."

If you want to donate to a specific candidate, experts recommend going directly to the committee websites. For example, the Kamala Harris campaign committees are Harris for President, Harris Victory Fund, and Harris Action Fund.

Donald Trump's campaign committee is Donald J. Trump for President 2024.

The Campaign Legal Center said there is concern about a new trend in solicitations using built-in, automatically reoccurring donations.

"You would have to affirmatively uncheck a box to indicate that you don't want your donation to be recurring," Chlopak added. "And certainly, an unsuspecting donor may, and frequently do, fail to uncheck that box and unintentionally find themselves signing up for recurring donations that just happen automatically without them realizing."

And be aware of donation text and email scams. They not only want your money, but your personal information, too.

"The Better Business Bureau is seeing is an increase in a deluge of scams and spams and text from allegedly political organizations, asking for your donations," said Chicago Better Business Bureau President and CEO Steve Bernas.

So, if you want to donate to a political campaign, how do you know the link's real?

"The Better Business Bureau suggests that you don't click on any links and go directly to the website of the organization or entity that you want to donate directly. You can't tell where that link's going," Bernas said.

The BBB adds that professional-looking photos do not mean it's the actual candidate. And, make donations only with your credit card. It's easier to dispute. A wire transfer or pre-paid debit card is the same as using cash, making it nearly impossible to get your money back.

If you want to stop receiving these emails and texts

Political robotexts
Text messages generated through autodialing are also considered a type of call and must comply with the same rules as robocalls.

Political text messages sent to a mobile phone using an auto-dialer require the called party's prior express consent. Messages sent manually can be sent without prior consent.

If you are receiving texts that you didn't ask for, report the sender by forwarding the texts to 7726 (or "SPAM").

Campaigns should also honor opt-out requests if you reply "STOP."

Report unwanted calls and texts
If you think you've received a political robocall or text that does not comply with the FCC's rules, you can file an informal complaint with the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints.

BBB Alert: Potential campaign fundraising imposter scams

The Better Business Bureau is alerting people to watch out for a variety of potential campaign fundraising scams pretending to be from official political candidates.

It's expected that scammers could be capitalizing on the recent changes in the 2024 U.S. Presidential race.

"Scammers have been known to create phony websites; fraudulent donor solicitations; imitation social media ads; fake volunteer applications; and scam emails/texts and phone calls," says Steve J. Bernas, BBB president and CEO. "They might even knock on your door asking for money."

The deluge of requests may be overwhelming, but don't let your guard down. Bernas adds, "Fraudsters are counting on people being so busy they won't take the time to scrutinize solicitations."

For example, you might receive a robocall and answer the phone. It's a recorded voice - perhaps even one that sounds just like one of the presidential candidates. According to the recording, rivals have been raising a lot of money. In order to see your favorite candidate elected, you need to donate immediately.

If you offer to give, you'll be transferred to a live person and asked for your credit card information. But your money might not be going to the campaign to support the political cause. Instead, the phony caller may make off with your money and/or personal information that can be used for identity theft.

Con artists could create counterfeit websites that, at first glance, appear to belong to a political candidate. But looking more closely at the URL, you'll notice that the domain name is slightly different. There might be a hyphen instead of a period. A few letters could be added to the domain name.

Make certain that the website is secure. Look for the "HTTPS" in the URL (the extra "s" is for "secure") and a small lock icon on the address bar. Never enter payment or personal information into a website with only "HTTP." It is NOT secure.

Do not click on links or download attachments from unknown emails. This ruse is meant to get your credit card information, account login details, or remote access to your computer. They will try to download malware onto your computer and/or steal your personal information.

Scammers will ask you to work for a candidate. Do not put your full address, birthdate, Social Security number or bank account number on any online quiz or work application or volunteer application until you verify it is legit. Do not provide this private information to unverified recruiters. Also, it can be easy to conduct fake virtual or phone interviews.

Professional-looking photos do not mean it's the actual candidate. Scammers often steal photos from other websites, so don't believe everything that you see.

Make donations only with your credit card. It's easier to dispute a credit card payment. Paying by wire transfer or pre-paid debit card is like using cash. There is almost nothing you can do to get the money back.

For more information
If you have experienced a scam, even if you didn't lose money, report it to BBB ScamTracker. Sign up for BBB's free consumer newsletter, BBB Edge, at BBB.org/ChicagoBuzz. Visit BBB.org or follow us @ChicagoBBB on social media. Look for the BBB seal, The Sign of a Better Business.