Voter Registration Scams

The telemarketing scams have taken a huge proportion and an important business like the voter registration has not been spared either. There are chances of you becoming a victim of this sort of a scam when an election is just round the corner. Voting registration scams lead the unsuspecting voter to believe that they are registering for the election while at the same time the imposters manage to trick them into revealing their social security number, the personal and financial details. This might as well lead to an identity theft. Therefore you should know how to protect yourself from being the target of a false voter registration process.

As per the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, the consumer protection agency in the country, such unsolicited phone calls from individuals who require your personal details for registration may be a pretext to acquire all your personal details. These are then used for an identity theft.

Recognizing a Fraudulent Call

There are several fraudulent telemarketing agencies that can lure you to reveal your social security number. If you are asked to reveal your SSN number, then it should immediately ring a bell even if it is said to be a part of the voter registration process. In case you receive such a call, you should immediately contact the local election office and verify whether they have given you a call. You can also ask them to explain the precise registration procedure. You can also check with the Federal Election Commission’s National Voter Registration Form available online on the link www.fec.gov/votregis/pdf/nvra.pdf. Refrain from divulging your social security number to anyone who claims to call up for voter registration.

If you are asked to furnish your financial details along with your credit card number, then these are indications that it is part of a telemarketing scam.  Do not reveal confidential financial details under any circumstances. Somebody else might make use of your credit card number and carry on transactions while you run a bill.

Report a Voter Registration Fraud

Such frauds may ask you to give away your personal details. If you find them insisting on finding out personal information, you should immediately take a clue from it and report any such activity to the Federal Trade Commission. You can report the crime on www.ftc.gov. You can also get in touch with them by calling 1 877 FTC HELP. If you have become a victim of an identity theft while thinking the call was for voter registration, you can immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission to lodge a complaint on http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.

The next time you receive such an unsolicited call from an individual who claims to be a local representative of a state civic group or the election board and requires your credit card information or social security number for voter registration, ensure that you do not furnish the requisite details without cross checking with the authorized agencies. As per federal rules, the election board officials are required to contact the voter in person or ask them to fill out a form themselves. There is no need to provide any financial information during a voter registration process.