[Vision2020] Another reason to give, but very carefully

[Art Deco]

Source: Washington Post

Missouri Attorney General To Sue Katrina Phisher
The Missouri attorney general today filed civil charges against an Internet scam artist I wrote about last Thursday who was running a hub of Web sites that claimed to be accepting donations on behalf of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Today a Missouri federal judge signed a temporary restraining order against Frank Weltner, 64, of St. Louis, Mo., that prohibits him from accepting donations through the slew of Web sites he registered with names like www.donate-katrina.com, www.clergydonations.com, and www.internetdonations.org. Weltner is also the owner of JewWatch.com, a decidedly anti-Semitic Web site. 

According to the Missouri AG's complaint, Weltner conveniently "omitted the fact that the ultimate company behind the Defendants' websites support white supremacy and that the money raised from the consumers will be only for use to help white victims of the hurricane."

The state is seeking to shutter the fake donation site and to freeze the assets of Internet Donations Inc., the nonprofit entity Weltner registered the day after our first blog post about him (and after he was already accepting donations through his site). The New York Times also ran a story on the Missouri legal action in on its Web site today.
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