ANNAPOLIS — We are just weeks away from election day.
Unfortunately, you have to be on the lookout for voting scams.
There is a scam that is being sent to voters through a text message.
WMAR-2 News spoke to the experts.
They say you want to be careful about what you click.
For voter Scott Taylor, he says there’s nothing more irritating than getting a scam text message.
“It’s kind of frustrating because I think it’s a real text message and I figure out it’s fake and it’s a waste of my time," said Taylor.
Right now, there’s a message being sent to the public telling them they’re not registered to vote and to click on a link.
“Do not fall for that. We’re not texting anybody here to click on those links," said Jared DeMarinis, the state administrator of elections.
He says he is well aware of the scam going on. He says when in doubt, always check in with the state board of elections.
“We have the correct information. We can verify your voter registration, your polling place, your early voting location, where your mail in ballot is," said DeMarinis.
Professor and cyber security expert Bryan Deehring says the scammers are after your personal information.
“What they are really looking for is access to your phone,website to then hopefully get access to your data, to further pivot into something else, maybe the business that you’re into," said Deehring.
Deehring says with more than 300 million people having smart phones in the U.S, it’s easy for someone to see something and not know what it is.
He says the first step is to always never click.
"So, one of the things is to slow down. People see this and they don’t react to and they move on and they already clicked on it," said Deehring.
“I think it’s kind of messed up because voting is a very important part of our society. It brings in more people who want to quote on quote vote to actually be sent to this scam link and be taken advantage of," said Taylor.
If you do receive this message, you are encouraged to report it.
You can go to the state board of elections website.
There you will find a portal where you can share the number and the scam.