Screen shot of "phished" campaign site that will divert your donation to mystery PAC's own pockets. Note the disclaimer at the top of the graphic.
Posted on 09/10/2012 1:15:52 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated how CAPE PAC sites are identified. Candidate sites are labeled as CAPE PAC sites in fine print at the top and bottom of each site.
Noam Neusner, a former White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush, thought he had given $250 to GOP Senate candidate Josh Mandel.
He hadn’t.
Instead, Neusner was one of nearly 3,000 donors who stumbled onto a network of look-alike campaign websites that have netted more than $570,000 this year in what some are calling a sophisticated political phishing scheme.
(UPDATE: Mystery PAC Look-Alike Websites Dissappear!)
The websites have the trappings of official campaign pages: smiling candidate photos and videos, issue pages, and a large, red “donate” button at the top. Except that proceeds from the shadow sites go not to the candidates pictured, but to an obscure conservative group run by an Arizona activist.
Such doppelgänger sites exist for nearly three-dozen prominent GOP figures, including presidential nominee Mitt Romney, House Speaker John Boehner rep. John Boehner Republican Ohio, District 8 and donation magnets such as Reps. Michele Bachmann rep. Michele Bachmann Republican Minnesota, District 6 and Allen West Republican Florida.
Peter Pasi, who specializes in digital GOP fundraising, said the group is “exploiting donors.” “The intent is to trade on someone else’s name for your benefit,” he said.
Republican officials are concerned that the group, the Coalition of Americans for Political Equality PAC, is siphoning away money from needy GOP candidates while duping donors.
“The only thing they are doing is lining their pockets and funding their own operation,” said Chris LaCivita, a strategist for West, whose campaign lawyers recently filed a complaint against CAPE PAC with the Federal Election Commission.
(PICTURES: Compare The Clone Sites vs. The Official Sites)
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...
Screen shot of "phished" campaign site that will divert your donation to mystery PAC's own pockets. Note the disclaimer at the top of the graphic.
And this is why I go DIRECTLY to a candidate’s website when I want to contribute. I contribute some to groups (e.g., Tea Party Express) I trust.
During the primary Newt got asked on a phone teleconference about a site called Newt Gingrich 360 and said he had nothing to do with it. I think they had “360” sites for other candidates as well. Just like this they were made up to look like official sites and asked for donations but the fine print indicated they were not affiliated with a candidate.
It is probably a mistake to believe that this is a “conservative” site. There is no reason to believe that it is not a liberal site siphoning off conservative funds!
I fee the same about the RNC, Republican Senatorial, Republican House, and the WisGOP appeals. ‘ll give my donations directly to the candidate.
“obscure political group”
??
And Obama recently stated his funding just bumped up...
Hmm. Good business idea for 2014, Demwits can’t even spell.
Thanks afraidfortherepublic.
i can’t believe people are so gullible. I delve deeply and send check to candidate of choice. I don’t have that much money to waste.
If there is a way to steal, they will find it.
Don’t take anything for granted.
I posted this from another source; I'd searched by title and got no results. I hadn't see it at all.
More people need to be made aware so they can be extra careful with their donation dollars.
Registrant:
Coalition of Americans for Political Equality PAC
1776 I Street NW
9th Floor
Washington, District of Columbia 20006
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: CAPEPAC.COM
Created on: 09-Feb-11
Expires on: 09-Feb-13
Last Updated on: 09-Feb-11
Administrative Contact:
CAPE PAC, Team
Coalition of Americans for Political Equality PAC
1776 I Street NW
9th Floor
Washington, District of Columbia 20006
United States
+1.2025121141
Technical Contact:
CAPE PAC, Team
Coalition of Americans for Political Equality PAC
1776 I Street NW
9th Floor
Washington, District of Columbia 20006
United States
+1.2025121141
Domain servers in listed order:
NS67.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS68.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
whois capepac.org
Sounds suspicious to me. Is there any way we can find out how they spend their money?
My personal opinion is that the best way to support a candidate is to talk to people about him/her, and to put up yard signs, etc.
What are the PACs going to do with your money? Call people and put up yard signs. Do it yourself and eliminate the middle man.
I’m not saying don’t donate. Of course campaigns still have other expenses. But think about where the money goes. IMO a few homemade signs are more powerful than a sea of mass-produced signs. Think about the tea party rallies. Not slick. Genuine grassroots.
Yes indeed! I don’t know why it did not show up in search. You and I have the same name for the title.
Wonder what is at the physical address?
GoDaddy has been down since earlier today in a denial of service hacker attack, since they host a lot of anti-Obama sites. And one of the mystery PACs
They have a website...
???
"It actually says, "...obscure conservative group..."
I highly doubt thieves are conservative in any way, but hey, it's the National Journal. A glance at their splash page will tell you that they're definitely not conservative, and thus would drop that little bomb into their story.
I missed a whole word.
lol.
I saw that, thieves are usually not conservative. Go to a prison and see how many are Republicans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.