Be Careful When Donating to Political Campaigns

Monday, September 13th, 2021 -- 12:00 PM

(WRN, Raymon Neupert) The election season is already underway for 2022, and political campaigns are asking for money, but which groups should you be trusting?

The election season is already underway for 2022, and political campaigns are asking for money, but which groups should you be trusting? State consumer protection administrator Lara Sutherlin says treating unsolicited messages to donate to a political campaign the same way you treat spam or possible scams is a good idea to have. 

"Pop up emails, pop up Social posts, pop up texts, all of those things could have nefarious links in them, could lead you into a space where they're trying to actually steal your information, steal your money."

Sutherlin says recently some political action committees were caught signing people up for high monthly donations without giving proper notice. 

"You know there was a recent report in the New York Times about elderly individuals spending an inordinate amount of money on PACs."

Sutherlin says political action committees have been masquerading as charities or representing themselves as donating money to candidates when they really aren't. 

"Sometimes you can't tell you you're talking to, right? Sometimes you think it's a charity and it's actually a PAC and there's very, very little money going to the actual cause that they're calling you about and it's really hard to figure it out."

Sutherlin says the best way to donate to the cause you're interested in is to do your research and find the one that's right for you, rather than just responding to unsolicited emails or text messages. 

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.