According to a recent report from HuffPost, South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott used alarming and misleading language in an effort to trick his constituents into donating to his campaign — warning recipients “Your heat will be turned off.”
The report states that Scott’s email ultimately urges readers to take a survey whether it’s time to increase drilling for oil and gas, but every response leads to the same page asking for donations to Scott’s campaign.
HuffPost also reported that Scott’s misleading fundraising pitch comes just after the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs warned residents that utility scams are likely to pop up.
Huffington Post: Tim Scott Is Fundraising By Emailing People That Their Heat Will Be Cut Off
By Jennifer Bendery | December 8, 2022
Key Points:
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“A week into December, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is emailing residents that their heat is about to get cut off — except the alarmist messages from his campaign are actually just misleading fundraising pitches. ‘Your heat will be turned off. Emergency Notice,’ reads an unsettling email notification a South Carolina resident received on their phone on Wednesday.”
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“After clicking on the alert, it leads to an email with the same subject line, ‘Your heat will be turned off.’ It’s only after opening the email itself that it becomes clear that this isn’t an emergency overdue heating bill. It’s Scott’s campaign asking for money.”
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“It urges readers to take a survey on whether it’s time to increase drilling for oil and gas. It doesn’t matter how you respond: All of the links take you to the same page asking for money for Scott’s campaign.”
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“Ironically, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs recently warned residents that utility scams tend to pop up this time of year.”
Read the full report here.
Published: Dec 9, 2022