Consumer Fraud Reporting
Political organizations
Reporting on the Latest Frauds, Scams, Fake Lotteries, Spams and Hoaxes

 

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Fake Political Organizations - How to Recognize Them and How to Report Them

Politics may make strange bedfellows, but it also breeds outright frauds and scams.  We have all heard of the dirty tricks that one political party plays on another, but as individuals, we need to have our guard up against being scammed in the name of a politician or political party we support.  They are not immune to being used by scammers, too. 

Here are some examples of how criminals use famous politicians, political organization and political parties to try to trick your money from you.

How to Recognize a Fake Political Organization

Let's look at some actual situations, experiences and in some cases, emails people received and see how we can spot that they are scams.

Sample Political Scams

• The American Spirit Award - using the name of John Enson and other U.S. Senators

Recommendations:

If you receive a call from this number or any group that claims to represent a political party or elected official, take down their information, including the contact's name, phone number, etc. Do NOT give them any personal or financial information, especially not a credit card, checking or bank account number, passport number, etc.

Next, look up the direct phone or email address for the person or party they claim to represent and call them , as we did.  Ask them if this group represents them.  In some cases, they may well be legitimate, but you won't know if you don't check on them first.

And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive.  We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!

In the United States contact:

U.S. Secret Service
Financial Crimes Division
1800 G Street, NW
Room 942
Washington, DC 20223

Overseas

Contact the Foreign Commercial Service (FSC) at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If there is no FCS office, contact the American Citizens Services Unit of the Consular Section or the Regional Security Office.

For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.

Copyright CFR 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009  - Definition of scam, fraud, etc. -  Legal disclaimer / corrections / complaints  -  Privacy Policy
Names used by scammers in the examples on this page and others often belong to real people and businesses who often have no knowledge of nor connection to the scammer's use of their name and information.  Sample scam emails and other documents are copies of the scam to help potential victims recognize and avoid it.  You should presume that any names used and presented here in a scam are either fictitious or used without their legitimate owner's permission.
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