Man Held in Hurricane Katrina Phishing Scam

20-year-old Jovany Desir of Miami, Florida, USA, has been accused by a federal grand jury in in Western Pennsylvania in relation to a phishing website that claimed to collect money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Desir created a bogus American Red Cross website, as well as phony banking, auction and online payment sites, in an attempt to steal names, addresses, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, Personal Identification Numbers and other information. According to prosecutors, 20-year-old Desir packaged the websites into phishing kits and sold them for approximately $150 each to other potential scammers. Bogus websites said to have been created by Desir between July and October 2006 included ones associated with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, eBay, PayPal, and two Canadian financial organizations - Banque Nationale and Desjardins Credit Union. Prosecutors claim that the fake Banque Nationale website was visited 8500 times by users apparently hunting for the real site. “Internet scammers have no qualms on feeding on other people’s misery in their pursuit of money,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. “It’s claimed that 56 different people downloaded Jovany Desir’s Hurricane Katrina phishing kit, presumably with the intention of conning good samaritans out of money. Everyone needs to be on their guard against identity theft and remain alert to the latest internet threats. This isn’t the first time that criminals have taken advantage of a natural disaster, and sadly it won’t be the last.”