TULSA, Okla. — Midterm elections are Tuesday and, unfortunately, as you head to the polls you could be a target for con artists. In this Better Business Bureau (BBB) Scam Alert, FOX23 explains how scammers could prey on your emotions on election day.

During election season, voices arguing for and against key issues are loud and passionate. Political campaigns often reach out asking for your support. The BBB is warning that con artists may capitalize on your passion to trick you into giving them money or personal information.

“Scammers are gonna take advantage of that and unfortunately get some phone numbers, get some email addresses and pretend that they are certain candidates from certain parties so that you can donate money or give your information, possibly get scammed,” said Amie Mitchell with the BBB.

Those email scams are known as ‘phishing’ and Mitchell warns that there’s a new scam called ‘smishing.’

“Smishing is where they send a text message to say ‘Hey I’m candidate XYZ, click here to donate to my campaign or fight for this particular cause, whatever it might be,’” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the new term ‘smishing,’ reflects the new type of scam con artists are doing.

“Just like you get from your email they’re trying to get information, whether it’s your social security number or payment information, so they can scam you, take advantage of you in any way shape and form, it’s just another way to get your information, and if you get a text saying you can reply to the text to cast your vote, don’t fall for it,” she said.

Mitchell explained how smishing can be especially prevalent on election day.

“It’s going to say ‘Hey you can go ahead and register to vote by clicking here, or you can register, or you can just go ahead and vote for me through this text message,’ that’s not how it works, you have to actually register to vote and then go show your ID and all of those fun things at the polls,” she said.

The BBB advises people listen to their guts. If something seems off, protect yourself. If you’re in doubt, check with your local election office.

The BBB also said campaign pollsters might ask for demographic information, or what party you align with, but they don’t need personal information like birth dates, social security numbers or financial information.

They also said no state offers voter registration by phone.

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