And so it begins...

[j-6]

MEMPHIS, TN (AP): A Memphis woman who tried to collect more than $1,500 in hurricane relief money has been charged with forgery and attempted theft.

Tennessee authorities say they believe Emma Hill is the first person charged in Memphis with posing as a hurricane victim.

Evacuees in Memphis must remain diligent. They are crime targets. It appears criminals are looking for Louisiana license plates. Many people have had their vehicles taken, along with thousands of dollars in cash and valuables. Police say at least 56 evacuees have been crime victims.

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OCOEE, Fla. -- Police in Ocoee, Fla., arrested a man accused of telling Central Florida store clerks that he had lost everything in Hurricane Katrina to avoid identification checks as he used a stolen credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of items.

Investigators said William Atwell passed himself off as a hurricane victim at the West Oaks Mall in Ocoee over the Labor Day weekend. He then purchased several thousand dollars worth of merchandise, police said.

When clerks would ask if Atwell had identification, he would say he lost everything in the hurricane but produced a birth certificate, according to a police report.

A store clerk questioned Atwell’s story when he noticed a Florida's driver’s license in Atwell's wallet and notified mall security.

When officers tried to approach Atwell, he dropped $2,000 worth of merchandise and fled with a girlfriend.

Police tracked Atwell to a home and arrested him.

Ocoee police recovered more than $8,000 in merchandise from the home, according to a police report.

Atwell faces several charges, including credit card fraud and forgery.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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(CBS4) PUEBLO, Colo. A man from Custer County was arrested after being accused of stealing money donated to Hurricane Katrina victims.

Police said John Herrera, 57, was seen posing as a firefighter and taking donations for the Red Cross at a Wal-Mart in Pueblo.

After investigating, police found out he was not associated with the agency and has a lengthy criminal background.

[Hook Dem]

Unfortunately, New Orleans doesn't have the market cornered on looters and unlawful people. There are plenty of this type all over the United States. I suspect this is only the beginning of people taking advantage of the current situation. Damn shameful.

[j-6]

Local Church's Sign Offends Evacuees

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3820292&nav=1TjDeGmD

http://kltv.images.worldnow.com/images/3820292_BG1.jpg

A confrontation this morning erupted between an East Texas church and an evacuee from New Orleans. It centers around a sign out front of Woodland Hills Baptist Church on Old Jacksonville Road in Tyler, about a mile inside the loop. Some say the message is offensive.

"I drove by that sign and was just horrified when I saw that," says Kelly Jackman who now lives in Tyler but used to live in New Orleans.

That sign at Woodland Hills Baptist Church reads ,"The big easy is the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah."

Kelly along with her sister Robin Lafont, an evacuee from New Orleans, showed up this morning at the church to talk to the man who put it up, Pastor Wiley Bennett.

During a heated discussion, Robin asked, "What's the point of the sign out there?" Pastor Bennett replied, "The point of the sign is New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and New York City are some of the most wicked cities in America."

Robin, who still has family members unaccounted for in New Orleans, is offended by the sign. "I'm telling you. This hurts. Why would you want to put more hurt, more salt in my wounds and why would you want to do this to me?"

Kelly adds, "And to go by and see this church saying that God did this to destroy these people and basically they're celebrating that by putting that sign up there saying look at what God has done. He has destroyed the city of New Orleans because it is evil."

Pastor Bennett says, "Anybody that's ever visited New Orleans, the very name its self - Big Easy - denotes that it's easy to find sin there."

Pastor Bennett says the sign, is a sign of the times. "The purpose of the sign is to wake American up to the fact that America is going away from God. New York City's 9/11 was a call of judgment and New Orleans horrible incident was judgment on a wicked city."

Pastor Bennett was quick to point out that the church has helped evacuees by donating clothing, food and lodging, but their good will seems to be overshadowed by the sign.

"I'm not saying that you were evil and didn't have good intentions but it is hurtful. It's extremely hurt full. That's all I'm saying. I'm asking you to take it down," pleaded Robin.

"If I was doing it to hurt people I would take it down, but I'm not doing it to hurt people. I'm doing it to point out the sins of America," said Bennett.

Even after the sisters left the church, the confrontation continued in the parking lot. Kelly said, "That sign also says a lot about your character and your integrity and it's nothing good I assure you."

"They both called me an ungodly person with bad character and all that, and that's their right, but I have people that would say differently," Bennett told us.

Finally, the confrontation came to an end, but with no resolution. Robin tried one last time, "I'm asking you to take it down." Bennett said, "We can not go any further so we may as well go." Robin said, "That's fine. I need to go."

Robin and Kelly say they are going to spread the word of opposition to the sign and encourage people to contact the church. They hope the church will eventually take it down.

Since the sign went up, many KLTV viewers have e-mailed us with their comments. Wednesday night, a viewer named Tammy told us:

"Encouragement is needed, not more salt in the wounds... How could anyone see that sign as appropriate or bearing witness for Christ?"

We were at Woodland Hills as they prepared for Wednesday Night services.

They say earlier in the day, they were deluged with phone calls from people urging them to take the sign down.

But they say after our report, the response has been 100 percent positive. They began their service with a prayer for the people of New Orleans and Mississippi, and we spoke with many members including these who say they support the message on the sign.

Betty George has been a member for 23 years.

"Our pastor has a strong stand on the Bible and he preaches God's word, and he has compassion for America and the souls of America."

Randy Hays joined Woodland Hills in 1999.

"All our pastor was trying to say is that America is pulling away from God, and He wants America to realize that."

Pastor Bennett told us once again he has no plans to take down the sign right now, despite outcry from the community.

[j-6]

7:33 A.M. - MARIETTA, GA (AP): A 36-year-old Georgia woman is in jail, facing felony theft charges after authorities say she lied about being an evacuee from New Orleans.

Officer Wayne Delk says the woman -- identified as Beretta Jo Hogg -- went to an American Red Cross shelter for evacuees of Hurricane Karina last week and told officials she and her eight-year-old son had lost everything in the hurricane.

She filled out paperwork and left the shelter with $1,300.

Later a woman who felt sorry for Hogg and the boy took them into her home. Police say while Hogg was sleeping, the woman talked to the boy -- who told her he attended a school in Stone Mountain.

The woman called 911.

[boutons]

There's lots of phishing and scamming of Katrina donations.

From WP tech blog:

Brian Krebs on Computer Security

Scammers 'Donate' to Katrina Relief Effort

The audacity of Internet scam artists never ceases to amaze me. Over the weekend I was lurking on a few obscure online chat channels dedicated to credit card fraud, collecting information for a story I'm working on about identity theft. In such forums, it is not at all uncommon to see fraudsters posting personal and financial details of their phishing victims as enticements to would-be buyers of larger stores of such information. In January, I wrote extensively about this type of activity in a series on the technology driving the spread of phishing scams.

At one point in my monitoring of the chat conversations, however, it became clear that several fraudsters fancied themselves modern-day Robin Hoods; at least two individuals on the chat channel began posting copies of receipts they had garnered for donating to the American Red Cross's Hurricane Katrina relief fund - using their victims' credit card and billing addresses. Following a posting that contained a female victim's name, address, credit card number (referred to merely as "cc" in the following snipped conversation), came the notice that the scammers had donated $250 with this woman's account, and another amount using the Visa card of a Chicago man. (The names of the scammers have been changed for readbility and because the non-standard characters in them messed up the HTML formatting of this page).

[01:24] lowlife: lolz...love to donate with ripppp cc;s
[01:25] lamer: yea man
[01:25] sleazeball: :D
[01:25] lamer: its good especially with katrina and all now
[01:25] lowlife: yah//// i would have donated more
[01:25] lowlife: but no $$ left in the cc
[01:25] sleazeball: lolz
[01:26] lowlife: yeh i guess :) feeling so good
[01:26] lowlife: i am a very good person
[01:26] lowlife: :P

I forwarded the information I found to the Red Cross, which is investigating to see if they could match that conversation to an actual donation.

I find these illegal "donations" reprehensible and offensive on so many levels. Theft is theft, and when discovered, the fake donations have the potential to generate anger and frustration, and ultimately besmirch all of the good work the Red Cross and other organizations are doing to help Katrina's victims. In all likelihood, the unauthorized charges will be reversed after considerable back and forth between the people whose credit card info. was stolen, the credit card companies and the Red Cross.

UPDATE, 6:30 p.m., ET: Since this post went live, I've heard from two other people I contacted whose credit card information also was posted on that chat channel. One individual from Tennessee came home to find my message on his answering machine, directly followed by one left by his bank calling him to report suspicious charges on his account. Among those charges was a $50 donation to Islamic Relief, which has launched a $2 million appeal for Hurrican Katrina victims. Another guy, a 25-year-old Marine from Alabama, returned my call to say that he also had an unauthorized $56 charge to Islamic Relief on his account.

By Brian Krebs | September 12, 2005; 01:55 PM ET | Category: Fraud