LONDON (AlertNet) - Criminals attempting to cash in on an outpouring of public generosity towards survivors of the Haiti earthquake are using online scams designed to steal charitable donations, a charity watchdog said on Wednesday.
The scams include the use of fictitious appeal websites, email appeals that falsely use the name of genuine charities, or appeals from bogus aid groups, said the Charity Commission, the independent charity regulator for England and Wales.
"The Commission is urging the public to continue giving but to be vigilant," it said in a statement.
Images of crushed survivors trapped beneath the rubble of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince largely destroyed by last week's 7.0 magnitude quake prompted a rush of support.
Aid groups were quick to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook in fundraising efforts to deal with the impact of the worst quake to hit the Caribbean country in 200 years, as the death toll soared to tens of thousands.
People had donated $35 million within 48 hours of the natural disaster, the American Red Cross said, calling the response "unprecedented".
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was one of the first organisations to warn citizens about the risk of being duped by Internet fraudsters in an alert on its website, posted the day after the earthquake struck. The FBI said past tragedies and natural disasters had prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organisation and/or a good cause -- and urged a "critical eye".
"Fraud is a pretty nasty thing to happen to people in the best of times, but when you're taking food out of the mouths of people who are struggling for survival in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, it is pretty low," said Brendan Paddy, a spokesman for the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organisation for 13 aid agencies.
Reuters
The co-founder of American white supremacist group ATP (American Third Position), William Daniel Johnson, has announced he intends to put forward as many candidates from this group to run for office this year.
A BNP supporter on the You Tube web site some time ago posted a video of the British National Party Greater London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook strutting his funky stuff at a function of some sort. Although this is a BNP supporters video, it has largly gone un-appreciated by us in the Anti-BNP lobby. 
"The Commission is urging the public to continue giving but to be vigilant," it said in a statement. 
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was one of the first organisations to warn citizens about the risk of being duped by Internet fraudsters in an alert on its website, posted the day after the earthquake struck. The FBI said past tragedies and natural disasters had prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organisation and/or a good cause -- and urged a "critical eye". 
On Tuesday a Justice Ministry panel called for tougher, more specific laws against hate crimes, while anti-racism activists held a demonstration in Helsinki. In a report handed over to Justice Minister Tuija Brax on Tuesday, the working group recommends adding a new criminal charge be added to the law books, which translates roughly as aggravated incitement against a societal group. It also says the current laws on hate crimes be expanded to cover acts based on victims' sexual orientation or handicaps, and to make it possible to punish groups or associations found guilty of hate crimes. The panel wants more rules against online racism, for instance making it a crime to publish a link to a racist website.