# Is that campaign merch store official? Here’s how to tell

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/is-that-campaign-merch-store-official-heres-how-to-tell/
- Published: 2026-10-27T19:00:11+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-27T19:19:39+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/campaign-merch-store-official-how-tell
- Topics: Elections, Politics, Research, Science, World

## Key points

- Researchers found 626 unofficial Texas election-related domains.
- Thirty shops appeared to claim official campaign links.
- Verify a store’s connection before buying or donating.

## Summary

Researchers identified 626 unofficial election-related web domains in Texas, including 30 online shops presenting themselves as official campaign merchandise stores. Attaxion could not verify an official campaign connection for any of the 30, raising concerns that shoppers may believe their purchases support candidates when that link is unconfirmed.

The investigation covered Texas’s Senate and governor races, six competitive congressional districts and election information sites. Researchers initially found 704 domains, then excluded 25 official sites and 53 linked to campaigns or election offices; 553 of the remaining domains had DNS records, which does not prove they hosted active websites. The Senate race accounted for 323 unofficial domains. Attaxion said nearly all 30 shops appeared to come from two sellers offering merchandise for candidates on both sides; the article also notes that unofficial domains are not automatically scams and that the FBI has warned about fake merchandise and donation sites.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.