Beware of this

[Crimes]

Scam artists hitch a ride on tsunami relief effort

NEW YORK (AFP) - The unprecedented relief effort for victims of the Asian tsunami disaster has proved a magnet for scam artists across the globe looking to translate the tragedy into personal gain.

The devastation in South Asia "is bringing fraudsters out in droves," said Annie McGuire, director of the California-based online victim advocacy site, Fraud-aid.com.

"I simply cannot list all the scams that will arise in the next several months," McGuire said.

Most of the fraud is being perpetrated online, in the form of fake charity websites and spam e-mails, some purportedly from individual victims, soliciting donations.

While the aftermath of natural disasters has long provided an opportunity for fraudsters, the scale of the tsunami catastrophe -- and the ensuing humanitarian effort -- is such that law enforcement agencies worldwide have issued special warnings for the public to beware of scam artists.

An FBI alert last week identified a variety of frauds, including offers to locate, for a fee, loved ones who may have been victims of the disaster.

"These are all old scams or stuff that we have seen before. There's nothing new to it," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said, adding that similar cons had surfaced after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"It's just a different scale this time around," Bresson said. "It's fair to say there are millions of e-mails circulating that are seeking some type of donation or contribution."

According to Bresson, the majority of scams originate overseas and target developed, English-speaking countries like Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.

Some employ a technique known as "phishing" whereby people are tricked into revealing banking and other confidential information to bogus disaster aid websites.

The US-based credit card firm Mastercard International said Monday it had teamed up with a digital fraud detection company, NameProtect, Inc., to protect customers.

"Sadly, we have identified numerous phishing websites that are trying to take advantage of people's compassion, but we are working with federal law enforcement to shut them down," said Mastercard's senior vice president of Security and Risk Services, Sergio Pinon.

Some of the scams are decidedly low-tech.

Across Europe, crooks have been caught red-handed with fake collection jars, trying to rip off people door-to-door or in the street. Some of those caught pretended to represent legitimate aid organisations, others made up fake ones.

Oxfam recently warned of a batch of solicitous e-mails, claiming to be from the relief agency, that were doing the rounds in Hong Kong.

"It was a very badly put together email, I don't think many people would have been fooled," said Oxfam Hong Kong spokeswoman Christy Ko.

Some scams are operated by well-organised groups, but Bresson said any individual with access to a computer could get in the on act, making it extremely difficult to track down the perpetrators.

"That's why we felt it was important to get the word out, to get out in front of this and be very pro-active," he said. "We would rather prevent these things from happening in the the first place than have to go in afterwards and investigate."

If most of the scams appeal to people's charity, some play on their greed.

In a variation of a well known fraud that originated in Nigeria, various spam mails claim the writer's family and business have been wiped out by the tsunami and he is seeking help to access an account in the Netherlands involving some sort of inheritance.

The con artist promises to share some of the account money if the recipient provides his bank account number so that the funds can be transferred.

Non-profit watchdogs like the Wise Giving Alliance have all issued public advice circulars, identifying the different scams and urging people to stick with large, recognised charities.

"It's always difficult to gauge the scope of scams, as the vast majority of people simply don't know they've been conned," said the Alliance's chief operating officer Bennett Weiner.

"While people are certainly aware of scams involving businesses and sales, sometimes their guard goes down when its charity, because they're emotional and want to do something," Weiner said.