 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
60 Percent Of Katrina Aid Websites Outside US: FBI
Washington (AFP) Sep 13, 2005 Some 60 percent of the websites accepting charitable aid for Hurricane Katrina victims are located overseas, the FBI said Tuesday as officials warned of tough steps on disaster-related fraud. Chris Swecker, head of the FBI's criminal investigative division, said federal authorities were on the lookout for a range of fraud schemes to profit from the catastrophe, including on charitable contributions. "There are about 4,000 sites advertising Hurricane Katrina relief services," he said. "We've looked at about 2,100 of those sites. One of the critical indicators is there's about 60 percent of them that are coming in from overseas. That is not a reason unto itself to conclude that that's a scam website, but it is a reason to be cautious." Swecker said Washington was working with other countries in an effort to identify who is behind the sites," peeling back the layers that accompany these various scam websites and trying to get right directly to the perpetrators." "The last thing that we want to do is stop people from giving, but we do want people to be very cautious," he said. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force would be working on preventing and cracking down on disaster-related schemes including charity fraud and insurance fraud. Gonzales said, "To anyone who is contemplating any kind of fraudulent scheme that takes advantage of Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath, let me be very clear: Federal, state and local law enforcement officials are watching carefully, and we will have zero tolerance for these kinds of crimes." Officials and charity officials said fraud schemes began to emerge within days of the disaster. Some scams use fraudulent websites and e-mails that use "phishing" techniques that allow people to click through to a site that resembles a real charity. Florida officials obtained a court order this month shutting down several Katrina-related websites alleged to be fraudulent including katrinahelp.com, katrinadonations.com, katrinarelief.com and katrinarelieffund.com. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues
US Military Mounts International Psyops Campaign
Washington (AFP) Dec 14, 2005The US military is mounting a 300 million dollar psychological operations campaign to sway international opinion of the US war on terrorism through messages placed in foreign media, officials said Wednesday. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
