A text messaging scam is targeting Pennsylvania voters. Here’s what officials want you to know.
Scam text messages are targeting voters in Bucks County and other parts of Pennsylvania. Election officials warn these texts are likely to become more common ahead of November's election.
Election officials are warning Pennsylvanians to be wary of potential scam text messages targeting voters in Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties among others ahead of November’s election.
A spokesperson for the Department of State said Pennsylvania voters should expect more of these messages to be sent in the weeks leading up to the general election, when Pennsylvania will play a key role deciding control of the White House.
“Voters should be aware that opportunistic bad actors may attempt to use this campaign season to send phishing or smishing emails/texts,” Matt Heckel, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.
What is in the messages targeting Pennsylvania voters?
The messages give voters false information about their registration status or ballots, including that they are not registered to vote or that their voting information is incorrect. Other messages say there is an issue with a voter’s mail ballot or that their April primary vote was not counted.
“We have you in our records as not registered to vote. Check your registration status & register in 2 minutes,” said one message shared by the Bucks County Consumer Protection Department.
In Bucks County, some of the messages have directed voters to “call the Board of Elections” and provides a fake number to do so, a county news release said.
Officials in Lehigh County and Lebanon County have warned about similar messages that also include a link for voters to follow, according to Fox 43 and Lehigh Valley News.
In each case, the messages were not sent by local election offices and officials have warned voters not to follow the links or call the provided numbers.
Montgomery County Election Board Chair Neil Makhija said that voter services received calls from several voters and that the county encourages voters to reach out directly with questions about their voter status.
“We intend to ramp up our proactive outreach via phone, sms, email, and mail to provide voters with official up-to-date and accurate information,” Makhija said in a text message.
How do you identify phishing messages?
It’s unclear who is sending the messages, but Delaware County election director James Allen said voters are to assume it’s a bad actor and check their information on the state’s voter services website.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said the department will never send voters information about their specific voting record. Any messages the department does send are meant to serve as reminders of election deadlines and will include the state’s election website: vote.pa.gov.
Bucks County officials said that any correspondence will show up on caller ID as “County of Bucks” and come from the number 215-348-6000.
Voters who think they are receiving a scam message should report it the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, officials said.