Election fraud alert: Steps to safeguard your vote

Wherever you turn, there are online scams. Scammers always target areas of interest, and right now that area is politics and elections.

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Beware of fake donation campaigns

Billions of dollars are being spent on the 2024 House, Senate and Presidential elections. You've probably received at least a dozen phone calls asking you to pull out your wallet. Pleas come in the form of texts, videos, social media posts and direct messages.

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Here are some dos and don'ts to keep your money safe.

• Please use a credit card. Checks and debit cards don't have the same fraud protections.
• Do not give out payment information over the phone. Find their official website and donate there.
• Do not click on the link. This includes anything contained in emails, texts, or other sources. When in doubt, visit the official campaign website of the person you want to support.
• Make sure it is a genuine organization. A list of registered PACs can be found here It is administered by the Federal Election Commission.
• Search for the PAC name. It's worth looking at whether there's anything fishy going on – some people are funneling money to their own advisors and marketing budgets, rather than to the candidates they claim to support. This page is useful. Too much.

Social Media Pro Tip: TikTok banned political fundraising in 2022. If you see something asking for donations there, it's likely a scam or someone skirting the rules, so you don't want to get involved with it.

Misinformation spreads faster than ever before

Lies security experts tell all the time, and so should you

It's not just your wallet that you have to worry about. Fake news spreads quickly online. We've seen everything from “the elections are cancelled” to “foreigners can vote this year.”

In some cases, foreign powers are behind large-scale disinformation campaigns. According to Meta, the Kremlin Your #1 source of information Ahead of the US presidential election, AI-generated misinformation is spreading.

An iPhone displays the Facebook and WhatsApp icons in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, November 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

The most common Facebook trick is for fictitious “journalists” to write fake news articles. If it's an outlet you've never heard of, look elsewhere to corroborate the story.

Other times, misinformation spreads because someone took a joke and assumed it was fact. Take the fake election maps that have been all over social media. It's a trend to paint blank maps blue or red with a clever line about which Democrat or Republican is more likely to win the Electoral College. They're not real, so don't share them as if they were.

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Learn how to distinguish AI images and videos

Detecting election fraud is particularly difficult because of the sheer volume of footage of politicians speaking. The more training data there is, the better the copy will be.

A roll of “I Voted” stickers is on display at the Maricopa County Counting and Elections Center ahead of the 2024 Arizona Primary and General Election on June 3, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)

However, you can use the following guidelines to help you determine if it is an AI:

• background: Blurry backgrounds, smooth surfaces, and mismatched lines are instant red flags that an image has been generated by AI.
• context: Use your head: if the view doesn't match the current climate, season, or what's physically possible, it's fake.
• Action: You’ve probably watched some of the videos of most of the top candidates. Notice the differences in their tone, inflection, and rhythm. If their speech patterns or facial reactions seem “off,” it might be the AI.
• ratio: Look for objects that appear stuck together or too big or small, especially features like ears, fingers, and feet.
• angle: Deepfakes work most convincingly when the subject is looking straight into the camera. If the person turns to the side and starts moving, glitches can occur.
• Article: AI can't spell, so check your signs and labels for fake words.
• jaw: Yes, you're right: the lower half of the face is the most noticeable part of an AI-generated video of a candidate. It's subtle, but make sure you check for unnatural or exaggerated movements of the jaw or neck.
• Fingers and hands: Check for any abnormalities such as odd positions, too many fingers, fingers that are too long, or hands that are misaligned.
• accessories: Look at everything you see: earrings, clothes, ties, etc. The clues are often in these little details.

My best advice is to take your time. When we watch a video and get emotionally attached to it, we are quick to believe it and share it. Scammers exploit this. Watch it a few times and do your research before you make a decision.

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