Good morning. Election Day is tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3, and that timing is exactly why fake election messages work. A text that says your registration has a problem, or a voice that sounds like a candidate, arrives when you are already thinking about voting. The safest move is boring, and it works: ignore the link, and check your status yourself through an official source you type in yourself.
What happened: On October 15, 2026, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that scammers are using the 2026 midterm elections to steal money and personal information. It named four schemes: fake campaign investment pools, fake political action committees, merchandise that never ships, and fake voter registration messages. The update to a similar 2024 warning adds a new toolkit: scammers use candidates names, images, logos, and slogans, and use artificial intelligence to create realistic voices, images, and messages that impersonate candidates, campaigns, government agencies, and people you trust. A text or voicemail that sounds like a well-known politician is no longer proof it came from that person. Check Point's pre-election update found fake emails and texts impersonating election offices in three states. Its point is simple and important: most voters only hear from an election office a few times around each election, so they have little to compare a fake message against. That confusion is the opening.
What to do, in order: (1) Do not click a link in an election text or email, and do not call a number from that message. (2) Check your status yourself. In Georgia, type mvp.sos.ga.gov yourself and check your registration status, your assigned Election Day polling place, and your sample ballot. (3) Nationally, type vote.gov yourself. It sends you to your state's official election website. (4) Never give a Social Security number, bank details, ballot ID, or payment to a caller, text, or survey that contacted you first. A real election office will not ask for those that way. (5) For donations, look up the committee yourself on fec.gov before you give. Campaign donations are not investments, they do not grow, and they are not paid back after a win.
Red flags: a surprise message saying you are not registered, with a link to fix it now; pressure to act before a deadline, or a promise that a donation will make you money; a voice you recognize on a call you did not expect, hang up and call back on a number you look up yourself; a page that looks official but is not on a .gov address you typed yourself.
If you already clicked or gave information: close it, change passwords for any account that shares a password you entered, turn on phishing resistant multi-factor authentication such as a passkey or security key where you can, and watch for identity theft. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, with the number, address, link, and what you handed over.
Georgia, Election Day, November 3: polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Election Day you must vote at your assigned precinct, not any location in your county. Bring an acceptable photo ID. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you can vote. If your eligibility is questioned, you can cast a provisional ballot. For nonpartisan help at the polls, call the Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE.
Bottom line: verify the message. Protect your vote. Do not let a link do the checking for you.
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer with 17+ years across banking, payments, and consulting. Writing about AI security, identity, and the fundamentals that stop most incidents. kevintswaney.com