Scammers Horn In on Newtown Donations

Website set up in victim's name
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 20, 2012 2:01 AM CST
Scammers Seek 'Donations' After Newtown
A woman, right, reacts during burial services for Noah Pozner, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Just as they did after 9/11, Katrina, and the Aurora shooting, scammers are taking advantage of people's generosity in the wake of the Newtown massacre. A website in the name of Noah Pozner, a 6-year-old killed in the attacks, sought donations and cards for his family; it also contained gun control petitions. But his family didn't know those behind the website, the AP reports. Now, an uncle is urging police to track down "these despicable people."

"It's just the lowest kind of thievery," says a charity analyst. The family was alerted after a friend got an email soliciting donations from an unfamiliar address. Recipients were asked to text any questions to a New York City phone number. A reporter's text prompted a response directing donations to the United Way. The website NoahPozner.com has now been transferred to the Pozner family. When they emailed its original owner, identified as one Jason Martin, he said he meant "to somehow honor Noah and help promote a safer gun culture. I had no ill intentions I assure you." (More scam stories.)

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