WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Scam Web sites, set up mostly from outside the United States, may be trying to defraud people with claims of raising funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Chris Swecker, assistant director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, says investigators have reviewed 2,100 such sites and about 60 percent of them originate outside the United States.
"That's not a reason unto itself to conclude that that's a scam Web site, but it is a reason to be cautious," Swecker told CNN.
He said no arrests have been made, however, investigations are continuing in at least eight instances of likely Web site fraud.
"The emphasis here is on 'unsolicited,' things that come in that you didn't -- you have never made contact with this particular charitable organization," Swecker said. "There's a link. There's a pop-up. There's something that you need to do. Do not click on it."
Red Cross officials, concerned that some suspect activities are created to look like their sites, plan to file civil lawsuits against operators who do not shut down their sites when ordered to do so, CNN reported.
