Scam PACs are often in the news. Check here for some of the best investigations we’ve seen. If you hear of a story worthy for us to note, let us know. Articles may be behind a paywall.
How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.
Adam Bonica, Data4Democracy
Arizona Man Pleads Guilty To Using Scam Political Action Committees To Defraud Tens Of Thousands Of Donors.
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
Older Americans, a critical source of political donations, often fall victim to aggressive and misleading digital practices. A broad Times analysis points to the scope of the problem.
Shane Goldmacher, New York Times
Political spam operations use over-the-top emotional manipulation to find donors who will respond to increasingly aggressive tactics.
Adam Bonica, Substack
A CNN investigation reveals how deceptive political fundraising has misled elderly Americans into giving away millions of dollars.
CNN Investigation
Democratic spam PACs don’t have enough to show for how annoying and bad for the party brand they are.
John Ray, JR’s Blog
There are legitimate PACs doing high quality political work. The Scambusters are working on separating the wheat from the chaff.
Steve Schear, The Grassroots Connector
In this field of sludge, I found a fundraising organization that stands out like a diamond in the mud — Oath.
Steve Schear, The Grassroots Connector
Tracing the money, the ideological purges, the strategic debates, and the court battles: A visual deep-dive into the data of 2025 and charting an empirical roadmap for a more resilient democracy.
Adam Bonica, Data4Democracy
A network of purportedly progressive super PACs, spending millions in Democratic primaries across the country, is funded by a Republican dark money group, the American Prosperity Alliance.
Judd Legum, Popular Information
AB Jail is an open source initiative dedicated to tracking and exposing deceptive political fundraising practices. Use the search function to look up fundraising solicitations from PACs.
Ryan Mioduski, AB Jail.org
Pro Tip: If you’re going to send out a text blast fraudulently claiming that you’re the organizer of No Kings and fraudulently soliciting donations, maybe don’t send it directly to me.
–Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible Project
As seen on BlueSky