Five Tips to Avoid Scam Political Action Committees
1. Visit the Federal Election Commission’s website, fec.gov, to check out a PAC and how it spends its money. The Center for Responsive Politics also has information about PACs, at opensecrets.org.
2. Beware of a PAC if its website doesn’t have the names of the people running it and contact information.
3. Be suspicious if a PAC collects money through harder-to-trace payment sites like PayPal or requests checks mailed to a post office box.
4. Avoid a PAC that doesn’t ask donors to confirm, as required, that they are at least 21 years old and not a foreign national.
5. Be skeptical of a group that sounds like a charity but is regulated by the FEC, since PACs are intended for political activity.