Katrina aftermath: Beware of e-looters

ITWorldCanada - Looters are going outside the streets of New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina's hardest-hit city, and setting up shop on the Internet where potential prey abounds.
E-looters are using methods such as phishing and spam e-mail, but hiding them under Katrina's cloak to rip off unsuspecting victims, according to Christopher Faulkner, president and CEO of CI Host, a Dallas-based Web hosting and data management company.
He said that since the disaster struck nearly two weeks ago, there have been more than 1,000 domain names registered containing the terms Katrina or Hurricane Katrina. Most of these domains are either used to set up malicious Web sites or are being auctioned off to bidders for a prices of as much as $50,000.
"Hurricane Katrina has a lot of people glued to their televisions and their PCs wanting to help. They have their guard down and they are clicking on e-mails thinking they're donating to a good cause, but in reality it's not going anywhere near New Orleans," Faulkner said.
There are several types of scams, he said. One is phishing-related, where Web sites are set up masquerading as Katrina relief or donation sites. These sites ask people intending to make a donation to enter their personal and financial information. Scammers then use the information to steal people's money or their identities.
Katrina-related spam contains text about the devastated area with URL links that claim to have more information or pictures, but clicking the links would actually release viruses, Trojan horses or spyware infecting the victims' computers, Faulkner said.
One particular type of spam, called fee-based spam, details information about private organizations claiming to have "rescue teams" based in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. For a fee that ranges from $500 to $1,000, they would deploy their people on-site to locate lost loved ones, Faulkner said. "But they don't do anything, but take the money and run."
Internet service providers and Web-hosting companies have taken down some of the malicious Web sites, including hurricanekatrinapix.com, hurricanekatrinarelief.com and katrinadamage.com.
CI Host has been conducting spam filter testing for Katrina-related spam e-mails and phishing activities for its 220,000-hosted Web sites. The company has been blocking between 8,000 and 10,000 Katrina-related spam or phishing e-mails per hour, Faulkner said.
While technology is being used as a scamming tool, many legitimate organizations are using it to extend help to Katrina's victims.
Sun Microsystems Inc. has deployed its own people and equipment to Cajun Dome in Lafayette, La., to provide IT and communications support to hurricane-affected areas.
Sun technicians are setting up