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Election-season scams: the four schemes the FBI flagged for the 2026 midterms

27 October 2026 · 2 min read

Every election brings a wave of messages asking for money, opinions or personal details. Most are genuine. Some are not. On 15 October 2026 the FBI warned that scammers are using the 2026 US midterm elections for fraud, and that they now use AI to create realistic voices, images and messages that impersonate candidates, campaigns, agencies and people you trust.

The four schemes

1. The campaign "investment pool". You're promised a guaranteed return on a contribution that supposedly pays out if a candidate wins, and encouraged to recruit friends to grow your share. Campaign contributions are not investments: they do not grow and are not returned.

2. Fake political action committees ("ScamPACs"). You think you're donating to a campaign or PAC. The organization has no real connection to it and keeps the money.

3. Merchandise that never ships. Hats, signs, shirts, sold online by sellers with no history. You pay; nothing arrives.

4. "You are not registered to vote." A text or email says your registration has a problem and links to a fake state registration page. The goal is your personal information, for identity theft.

Red flags

• unsolicited calls, texts, emails or "surveys" asking for personal information or sending you to a link;
• promises of guaranteed returns, or donations described as investments;
• requests to recruit others;
• committees you can't find in official filings, or that spend most of their money on "consulting" and "administration";
• merchandise sellers with no reviews or complaint history;
• realistic AI voices or videos of candidates asking you to act now.

What to do

• Check your voter registration yourself at vote.gov, never through a link in a message.
• Donate directly through a campaign's official website, and check committees on the Federal Election Commission's site.
• Research sellers before buying merchandise.
• Don't share personal details with unexpected callers or messages.
• Report suspected scams to your local FBI field office or at ic3.gov.

At work

Election lures don't stay at home: staff receive the same "verify your registration" and "donate now" emails at work, where a click can expose a work account. KnoxDefender checks whether such mail really comes from who it claims, flags lookalike senders, and lets staff report suspicious messages in one click. A short "Recognizing phishing" refresher before election day is time well spent.

Source

• FBI IC3 PSA I-101526-3-PSA: Scammers Exploit 2026 U.S. Midterm Election to Perpetrate Multiple Fraud Schemes (15 October 2026)

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