Criminal gangs have been cashing in on the Haiti earthquake by collecting funds through bogus internet charities, a BBC investigation has learned.

The crooks have been sending millions of spam e-mails with some using the logos from genuine charities.

One such email said it was from the British Red Cross, but was traced to a computer in Nigeria; another used the UNICEF logo, but it was found out it had nothing to do with them. Another group listed as ME Foundation sent BBC pictures from their projects in Haiti, but it was later discovered they were actually footage from the Pakistan earthquake in 2005. The British Humanitarian organization SOS Children informed the pictures have been copied from their website.

BBC traced another email from a charity called Help the World, which is not registered with the Charity Commission. There was a mobile number on the e-mail which BBC rang. A man responded and told them the organization is repairing the center of the disaster in Haiti and focuses on the schools. All his statements proved to be bogus.

An earthquake with a 7-point on the Richter scale magnitude devastated Haiti on January 12. The death toll is estimated at over 220 000 while the capital Port-au-Prince was left in ruins.

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