Man arrested in tsunami death e-mail hoax
Found on CNet News on Saturday, 01 January 2005
British police said on Sunday they had arrested a man after a hoaxer posing as a government official e-mailed relatives of people missing since the Asian tsunami, saying their loved ones had been confirmed dead.
The hoaxer, claiming to be from the "Foreign Office Bureau" in Thailand, targeted people who had placed appeals for information about relatives and friends on the Web site of TV station Sky News.
"The British government would not use e-mail to convey news of the death of a loved one," police said. "Anyone receiving such an e-mail should treat it with utmost caution."
Sky News said it was "disgusted" at the abuse of the message board on its Web site and had contacted police as soon as it was alerted to the hoaxes.
It's amazing how low people can sink. I'm still wondering what this guy was aiming for; it doesn't sound like he was trying to make money. Speaking of, I already saw scams in newsgroups trying to make people "donate" money to some obscure (and of course non-existant) charities. Those scammers should be awarded with a one-way ticket to one of the areas hit by the tsunami. Of course the people down there should know why the scammer is sent there; I guess they will do the rest.