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.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
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