3 ways scammers could exploit the General Election
With a barrage of articles, emails, paid adverts and websites relating to the election, it can be difficult to spot what's genuine.
Fraudsters are only too happy to capitalise on this problem. Nothing is sacred for scammers, who will seek out any opportunity to deceive us, steal our money or harvest valuable personal data.
That is why the general election – taking place on 4 July – presents a particular risk of cybercrime for UK voters, politicians and electoral officials.
Read on to find out what scams to beware of in the run-up to the election.
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1. Deepfake AI
The Prime Minister is used to dominating the headlines, but in a dystopian twist he was used to generate fake news earlier this year.
A series of Facebook adverts featured a convincing AI-generated 'deepfake' video of the PM promoting investment scams.
A June investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) found more than 8,000 ads on Facebook featuring AI-manipulated videos and false information about politicians.
Google researchers have found that AI-generated deepfakes impersonating politicians and celebrities are the most common malicious use of AI. Indeed, they were found to be much more common than AI-assisted attempts at cyber attacks.
- Read more: How to spot and avoid AI scams
2. Targeted attacks
Scammers are skilled at researching their victims beforehand and tailoring their approach in order to reel them in. And people connected to political life could make easy targets during the election, according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
With large numbers of people across the country currently busy with campaigning, canvassing and electoral processes, there is huge potential for cybercriminals to exploit the election by targeting them.
The NCSC is so concerned about political candidates and election officials being targeted by phishing and malware attempts that it's launched a specialist Cyber Defence Service to protect them.
Individuals deemed to be at high risk of cyberattacks can sign up to benefit from free guidance and protective services.
3. Suspicious websites
Ordinary voters searching for manifestos and other legitimate information risk being maliciously redirected towards Russian websites, if one recent election is anything to go by.
The London Mayoral election in May saw a number of misleading websites registered using election candidates' names, but which redirected to Russian government websites when clicked on.
It's not known who was responsible for the websites, nor what their motive was. But there is a clear risk of voters in the general election being misdirected towards malicious websites, where they encounter malware or where their data is harvested.
That's why it's important to go direct to political party websites if you know the address, or to select the highest organic result on search engine results (avoiding the ads/sponsored results shown at the top).
