PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria County Election Commission is warning of a texting scam that is targeting voting by mail.
The text urges recipients to click on a false link to register to vote by mail in the upcoming election.
Election Commission Executive Director Elizabeth Gannon says an election judge recently received an SMS (text) message that read: “We have you in our records as not signed up to receive a ballot in the mail.” The message includes a link for the recipient to “sign up in 2 minutes.”
The election judge did not click the link or reply in any way, but instead reported the suspicious message to Peoria County, which in turn reached out to state partners to provide notification of the incident.
Gannon says the scam is not limited to Peoria County or the State of Illinois. Similar incidents were reported in Cobb County, Georgia and Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
The scam is a form of phishing, an attempt to retrieve personal and sensitive information. The attack appears to come from a reputable source and often asks for an immediate reply to rectify any alleged situation.
“What happened here was the appropriate response,” Gannon said. “Never click a suspicious link or reply to an unknown number. Disheartening as it is, similar attempts at mis- and disinformation will only increase as we get closer to the election.”
“Your local election authority should be your number one source for up to date and accurate election information,” Gannon said. “When in doubt, reach out.”
The Peoria County Election Commission office at 4422 Brandywine Drive in Peoria is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. You can also call the office at 309-324-2300 for questions, concerns, or to report suspicious voting activity.
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