SAN DIEGO — With the November election only months away, campaigns are sending out billions of political text messages and emails for donations and other support.
How do you know if they're legitimate?
It can be especially infuriating to receive all of these political text messages and emails, many asking for campaign donations when you didn't sign up for them to begin with.
Experts said in many cases it's best to either ignore them or simply hit delete.
"I never really get many texts, political texts, and I am getting lots of them!" said Laurel Satryb, adding she's now getting six or seven political messages every day.
"Since Biden stepped out I've gotten even more," she told CBS 8. "(They want) money, support, and they know who I am, so they target me because they know my political views somehow."
In 2022, Americans received a record 15 billion political texts, according to the call-blocking service Robo Killer: an average of 50 messages for every cell phone in the country..
It's a record that is on track to be broken during this election cycle.
"Often times when somebody is reaching out to you unsolicited, we recommend not to trust it," said Juliana O'Rork with the Better Business Bureau. She warned that when you randomly receive a text or email, it's best to think twice before responding or clicking on any link.
"During election season we do see a lot of these text messages, and it's phishing or what we refer to as 'smishing'" she added. "These people just want your information."
Consumer advocates advise not to reply "STOP" to an unsolicited message. It can tell the potential scammer on the other end that it's an active number, which could then be sold to other scammers: opening you up to more unwanted messages.
Under current regulations, political campaign text messages and calls are exempt from the Do Not Call Registry, although the FCC requires prior consent for an organization or campaign to send text messages to your mobile phone.
What if you believe you never actually gave your consent?
Many cyber-security experts say that somewhere along the line, you probably did.
"If you have used your number in any type of online ordering or any kind of marketing or any type of social media platform, those simple end-user agreements may have in fine print that they may also share your phone number with other service providers," said cyber security expert Peter Tran.
"I always suspect that it could be a scam," laughed Laurel Satryb, adding that when she gets a message she wasn't expecting, she knows exactly what to do.
"I usually just delete them and move on!," she told CBS 8.
You can also report any suspected scams to the Better Business Bureau's online "Scam Tracker" which can help warn others as well. For more information, click here.
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