Brownley denounces wildfire victims fraud

Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Woodland Hills) is fighting mad. On Oct. 29, Brownley discovered her name was attached to a fraudulent e-mail that asked people throughout the United States to contribute money to a "recovery" and "rebuilding" program for fire victims in Southern California.

"I was stunned and horrified by what is clearly an e-mail scam," Brownley said.

Brownley, who represents the city of Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said the scam took flight on the Internet after she gave a brief radio address on the wildfires.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez asked Brownley to provide information on how people could help fire victims and donate money via the Assembly website, she said. The information was then posted on the Assembly's Democratic Caucus website.

Apparently somebody hijacked Brownley's e-mail and website. The forged email invites people to donate money to fire victims through a bogus website, one that originated outside of the United States and was designed to steal money from charitablyminded Americans, Brownley said.

Brownley's original posted remarks from the Assembly website were copied onto the phony website which link to a nonexistent IRS "help" site, she said.

"My immediate goal is to do everything possible to get the word out that the e-mail did not come from me or anyone associated with me, and that no one should open the 'IRS' link," Brownley said.

"According to our initial investigation," she said, "the origin appears to be out of the U.S. Regardless, it is another ugly side to the tragedy of the Southern California wildfires, where some anonymous person is attempting to exploit the generosity of Americans to support one another in a time of crisis for personal gain and pure greed."

Brownley was alerted to the scam early Tues., Oct. 30, through an email from a college professor from Delhi, N.Y. A reporter from Florida also contacted Brownley, and she discovered people in San Diego had received the counterfeit e-mail as well.

"They are preying on the good people of California who have been so helpful and compassionate," Brownley said. "They're exploiting very good people . . . the most vulnerable people who've suffered a terrible loss."

Louise Rishoff, Brownley's office director, said she doesn't know if anyone had been duped into actually donating money, but that the office wouldn't necessarily be privy to that information.

"On the Internet, (false information) is just scattered to the wind," Rishoff said. She said it was odd that the scammer chose to pair Brownley with the IRS in the scam, because the Internal Revenue Service has nothing to do with disaster relief, she said.

The person or people who set up the phony website count on "people with good hearts who want to do something, (and then they) find themselves victimized," Rishoff said.

"You know these things happen, but when it arrives on your doorstep it really brings it home," Rishoff said.

"We have no control over it," Brownley said of the ensuing investigation. She said the Computer Legislative Data Center has conducted a preliminary investigation on the incident, and the case has been turned over to the state attorney general's office.