The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office is warning of scammers already attempting to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s pledge to issue $5,000 “dividend” checks to adult U.S. citizens if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Trump made the announcement during a speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, saying the payments would be issued if Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate.
Within hours of the announcement, phishing text messages reportedly began circulating on cell phones, attempting to convince recipients that they could claim the proposed payment by clicking a link.
The fraudulent link directs users to a phishing website designed to obtain personal or financial information.
Residents are urged not to click links contained in unsolicited text messages claiming to offer access to the $5,000 payment and not to respond to the messages.
Government agencies and political campaigns do not distribute government payments through unsolicited text-message links.
Anyone who receives a suspicious message should delete it and can report suspected text-message scams to local law enforcement or the Federal Trade Commission.
