People across the county are receiving robocalls they believe are suggesting they don’t go out and vote.
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There have been about 10 million calls and sometimes texts sent out to voters across the country according to The Washington Post. The origins of the calls are still unknown but the FBI is looking into the matter.
In swing state Michigan, calls seemed particularly targeted to intimidate prospective voters, prompting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to announce Tuesday that the state will “work quickly to stamp out misinformation.”
The New York Times cybersecurity reporter says that some calls told potential voters they’d be arrested if they tried to exercise their civic duty.
“Some disturbing developments: In addition to the robocalls, voters in Flint, Michigan are getting threatening live calls telling them to stay home or face arrests at the polls. The calls, which have also been reported in Iowa, are (obviously) not true, says Michigan AG office.”
Technology experts are saying the timing of the calls is concerning and that these tactics have been seen in previous election years. On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also posted a warning to Michigan residents that the information in the calls and texts are false.
“Dearborn voters, text messages are reportedly being sent to trick you into thinking there are ballot sensor issues. Do not fall for it, it’s a trick!”
The Washington Post identified voters in Georgia, Philadelphia and Nebraska and Indiana who’d received similar robocalls.
The outlet reports that people have been receiving “ stay safe and stay home” calls around the country since the summer and as many as a half-million calls have been going out each day. The calls typically feature a computerized female voice urging folks to stay home and identifies itself as a ‘test call.’ The calls come from unknown numbers and have been received by people in countries outside the US.
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“If you wanted to cause havoc in America for the elections, one way to do it is clearly robocalling,” Alex Quilici, chief executive at YouMail, creator of a robocall-blocking app, told The Washington Post. YouMail’s data shows that 280 of the country’s 317 area codes have received the calls. They do not appear to originate from the US, the company says. “This whole thing is exposing [that] it can be very difficult to react quickly to a large calling volume campaign.”
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