Reset Your (Non-Existent) Password
This is next tactic falls more squarely into confidence trick territory. Trump fundraisers are pretty savvy when it comes to taking advantage of subject lines, which are the first, and potentially only thing his supporters will see when a new message arrives. Many of these lines mimic the tactics that are more commonly associated with phishing emails, usually designed to convince hackers’ victims to surrender passwords and other sensitive information. Emails requesting donations have, in the past, included claims that supporters are required to “reset” nonexistent passwords, while others imply that a payment is required, or that one is already being processed.
Other attempts are designed to confuse supporters into thinking they’ve already placed an order for some kind of merchandise—a campaign t-shirt or a set of Trump-themed golf balls, for instance. Some of these emails include a fake order confirmation numbers or imply a shipment is already on the way.
These fake order numbers are not unique, according to Defending Democracy’s database. Millions of these emails were sent out and all of the numbers are exactly the same.
