Fake Online Vote Verification Scam

A web page asks you to vote in a public contest, often for a child or young performer at a school, club or competition. It shows the finalists with photos and a vote count that is almost even, and says every vote changes the result. Before your vote counts, the page says it has to be verified. The page is not run by the school or organizer it names, and the same page is copied onto many new web addresses.

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Fake Online Vote Verification Scam example

How this scam works

  1. 1

    Step 1: You get or open a link asking you to vote for a finalist in a contest run by a school, club or other organizer.

  2. 2

    Step 2: The page shows the finalists, a running vote count and a very small gap between them, so it feels like your vote decides the result.

  3. 3

    Step 3: When you choose a finalist, the page says your vote must be verified before it counts.

  4. 4

    Step 4: The page's code points to a separate sign-in step for this verification. Anything you enter there would go to the people running the page, not to the school or organizer.

  5. 5

    Step 5: The same page appears on many new web addresses, often with names that have nothing to do with the organizer.

✓ Do this

  • Check the contest on the organizer's official website or social media account. Find it yourself instead of using the link.
  • If a friend sent you the link, ask them by a separate call or message whether they really sent it.
  • Report the link on the platform or app where you received it.
  • If you already signed in, entered a phone number or typed a code on such a page, change your password on the real service and turn on two-step verification.

✗ Avoid this

  • Do not sign in, enter your phone number or type a code to verify a vote.
  • Do not trust a page because it shows photos of children, a school name or a close vote count.
  • Do not forward the vote link to friends or groups.

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