False web sites have been established that pretend to be legitimate relief organisations asking for donations – one of which contains an imbedded Trojan exploit that can infect a visitor's computer with a virus if accessed. Spam has been sent that offers, for a fee, to locate loved ones who may have been a disaster victim; or that requests that money be deposited in overseas banks to support the tsunami relief effort.
There have also been variations on the Nigerian e-mail scam – where unsolicited e-mails seek personal or financial information in a purported effort to retrieve large amounts of inheritance funds tied up in relation to the tsunami disaster.
The FBI said today that, in conjunction with domestic and international law enforcement and industry partners, it will aggressively pursue "those who would attempt to victimise philanthropic individuals".