Key Takeaway:
Ahead of the US midterm elections on 3 November 2026, the FBI has warned about four scams that use the campaign as cover: “investment pools” that promise your donation back with a profit if a candidate wins, fake political action committees that keep the money, campaign merchandise that never arrives, and texts or emails claiming you aren’t registered to vote. Scammers are also using AI to imitate candidates’ voices and messages. Real donations are never investments, real registration checks happen at vote.gov, and any PAC can be looked up at the Federal Election Commission before you give.
Election season is ideal for scammers. People are getting more texts, calls and emails than usual from campaigns they’ve never heard of, many of them urgent, and many asking for money. A fake one blends right in. On 15 October 2026 the FBI published a public warning describing the schemes it expects to see this year. Here’s what each one looks like, how to check before you give anything, and where to report one. None of this is about any party or candidate: these scams use whichever names get attention.
🗳️ The Four Scams the FBI Is Warning About
1. The campaign “investment pool”
You’re invited to put money into a pool that supposedly backs a candidate, with a promise that it pays out, with a profit, if they win. Often you’re encouraged to recruit friends to grow your share. The FBI is blunt about this one: political donations are not investments, and they don’t grow or come back to you. Any “contribution” with a promised return is a scam, whatever the candidate’s name on it.
2. Fake political action committees (“ScamPACs”)
A political action committee, or PAC, raises money for candidates or causes. In this scam you think you’re giving to a real PAC, but the people asking have no connection to it and keep the money. The FBI adds a subtler warning: some scam PACs really are registered, but spend most of what they raise on “fundraising”, “consulting” or “administration” rather than on the cause.
3. Merchandise that never arrives
Hats, flags, T-shirts and collectibles for a candidate, sold through ads, social media posts and new websites, and then never shipped. It’s ordinary non-delivery fraud dressed up in campaign colours, and it works because people buy on impulse when they feel strongly about an election.
4. “You’re not registered to vote”
A text or email says your voter registration has a problem, or that you aren’t registered at all, with a link to “fix it”. The link leads to a fake state registration page that asks for your personal details, such as your name, address and date of birth, which is what identity thieves are after. It works because the deadline pressure feels real, and a missed vote feels like something worth acting on immediately.
The AI Twist: Candidates Who Never Called You
The FBI also warns that scammers are using AI tools to make realistic voices, images and messages that imitate candidates, campaigns, government offices and even people you know. A voicemail that sounds exactly like a well-known politician asking for an urgent donation is now cheap and quick to make. The voice proves nothing. What matters is where the request came from and where the money would go, and both can be checked independently.
How to Check Before You Give Anything
| If you’re asked to… | Check it here |
|---|---|
| Give to a PAC or committee | Search its exact name on the Federal Election Commission’s committee search (fec.gov). Look at its filings: where does the money actually go? |
| Donate to a candidate | Go to the campaign’s official website yourself, typed into your browser or found through a search, and donate there. Not through the link in the message. |
| Fix your voter registration | Go to vote.gov, the official US government site, which sends you to your own state’s registration page. |
| Buy campaign merchandise | Look the seller up on BBB.org and search its name with “scam”. Pay by credit card, which gives you a way to dispute the charge. |
| “Invest” in a campaign | No check needed. Donations never pay out. It’s a scam. |
Three habits catch almost every version of these scams:
- Don’t use the link, number or reply address in the message. Find the organisation yourself and contact it there. A real campaign, PAC or election office will still be there when you look it up.
- Read the link before you tap it. The part just before the first single slash is whose site it really is. A fake registration page might have “vote” or your state’s name in it and still belong to someone else entirely. Our free lesson Read a Link Before You Tap It shows how in two minutes, and the Lookalike Domain Checker catches letters borrowed from other alphabets.
- Slow down. “Final notice”, “deadline tonight”, “matching donation ends at midnight”: urgency is the scam’s main tool. A real deadline survives the five minutes it takes to check.
📮 Got one as a QR code? Flyers and mailers can carry QR codes too. Before scanning, read where the code really goes with our free QR Code Decoder, which shows the link as plain text without opening it.
If You’ve Already Given Money or Details
- Call your bank or card company now, using the number on your card, and report the payment as fraud. The sooner they know, the better the chance of stopping it.
- If you typed personal details into a fake registration page, watch your accounts closely, and consider a free credit freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. IdentityTheft.gov builds a recovery plan if your identity has been used.
- Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov, or to your local FBI field office. The FBI asks you to include the name of whoever contacted you, any phone numbers, email addresses and websites, how you paid, and what you were told and what you gave them.
- Forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM), which reports them to your mobile provider.
- Beware of anyone who then offers to get your money back for a fee. That’s a second scam aimed at people who’ve already lost money. Recovery Scams explains how it works.
Frequently Asked Questions
I got a text saying I’m not registered to vote. What should I do?
Don’t tap the link. Go to vote.gov yourself and follow it to your state’s official page, where you can check your registration status. If it’s fine, the text was a scam; forward it to 7726 and delete it.
How can I tell if a PAC is real?
Search its exact name on the Federal Election Commission’s website. A real PAC is registered and files reports showing what it raises and spends. Being registered isn’t the whole story: the FBI warns that some scam PACs are registered but spend most of their money on fundraising and consulting, so look at where the money goes.
A voicemail sounded exactly like a candidate asking me to donate. Could it be fake?
Yes. AI can now copy a voice convincingly from short recordings, and the FBI specifically warns about this. If you want to support a candidate, go to their official campaign website yourself and donate there.
Will donating to a campaign ever earn me money back?
No. Political donations are not investments. Any offer that promises a return on a “contribution” is a scam, however official it looks.
Are these scams only around the midterms?
They peak around elections, but they don’t stop on election day. Scammers reuse the same tricks for the next race, the next appeal and the next “deadline”. The checks above work just as well all year round.
Sources
- FBI IC3 — Scammers Exploit 2026 U.S. Midterm Election to Perpetrate Multiple Fraud Schemes (I-101526-3-PSA, 15 October 2026)
- Federal Election Commission — Committee search
- Vote.gov — Register to vote and check your registration
- The Register — FBI warns of scams ahead of the midterms (16 October 2026)