At least 4,000 Web sites claiming to be Hurricane Katrina relief funds have popped up on the Internet and top US law enforcement officials warned Tuesday that many could be fraudulent.
The number of Katrina-related sites has more than quadrupled in the past week, according to FBI officials.
"A devious few have sought to take advantage of our collective generosity," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference to highlight the government's efforts to combat fraud.
The FBI has so far reviewed 2,100 sites, of which 60 percent are foreign and thus more likely to be bogus, said FBI assistant director Chris Swecker.
There have so far been no arrests. As of last week, the FBI had opened eight criminal investigations of suspect domestic sites. Swecker said the number of probes has grown a lot in recent days, but he declined to be specific.
The Justice Department has a Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force looking especially at phony charities, identity theft, insurance scams and government benefit fraud. The US Red Cross, the relief group most frequently copied in Internet scams, also is working with authorities.
Officials again urged donors not to respond to unsolicited e-mails and to give only to well-known charities.
"If it doesn't look right, chances are it's not," assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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