Unscrupulous E-Mail Marketers Solicit
Donors for Fake Disaster-Relief Funds
By DAVID BANK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
A few unscrupulous e-mail mass marketers are already using this week’s tragedies to collect money for bogus relief funds, according to the Red Cross and Internet groups that fight such “spam.”
But the problem isn’t widespread and shouldn’t discourage would-be donors from contributing to legitimate relief efforts, said an official at the Federal Trade Commission. “We have not seen any particular problems or trends,” said Eileen Harrington, the FTC’s director for marketing practices.
See full coverage of the attack.
Nonetheless, one such solicitation, which sought to collect money for “Express Relief Fund 2001” so angered Richard Welty, a self-employed computer specialist in Albany, N.Y., that he decided to track down the sender.
Mr. Welty, who operates several mailing lists for sports-car hobbyists, said he hates all spam. “But this one was worse, because it was someone obviously taking advantage of a tragedy to line their own pockets,” he said.
Mr. Welty traced the offending message through a wholesale Internet-access provider in Omaha, Neb., and before that to an e-mail server in Europe designed to hide its source. He said the Web site seeking donations was hosted by a company apparently operating in China that is well-known to antispam activists. He said he alerted the FBI and has been told they are following up.
The American Red Cross said it had received reports of imposter Web sites and e-mail campaigns that misdirected donations and said it would work with authorities to prosecute offenders. The organization said it had established partnerships with Amazon.com Inc., AOL Time Warner Inc. and Yahoo Inc. to accept online donations.
Tom Geller, executive director of the SpamCon Foundation, an antispam group in San Francisco, said mass solicitations began appearing within hours of the attacks. “No charitable organization will send out unsolicited mail because it’s illegal in many states and European countries,” he said.
In addition to fund-raising solicitation, some Web sites were using the tragedy to market pornography with the tease “No terrorists here!”
Another e-mail offered telephone calling cards with pictures of the New York skyline and promised to donate part of the proceeds to an unidentified relief fund. “Be the first distributor in your area to carry this commemorative phone card that benefits the victims of the attacks,” the solicitation said.
Fraud specialists say such activities are common following disasters and urge people to take precautions before making relief donations, particularly online. Donors should be especially wary about following Web links in the many e-mail chain letters now circulating; experts suggest going directly to the sites of well-known organizations.
Write to David Bank at david.bank@wsj.com