PITTSBURGH - A man was charged Thursday with soliciting donations for tsunami relief by sending 800,000 phony e-mails purporting to be from a nationally known aid organization, federal prosecutors said.
Matthew Schmieder, 24, was arrested at his home Thursday, just days after several states and consumer watchdog agencies warned about such scams. He said he planned to use any money he got to repair his car and pay bills, according to court documents.
Schmieder was released on $25,000 bail by a federal magistrate. He did not comment as he left the courthouse.
According to the criminal complaint, Schmieder sent e-mails that contained three images that linked to or referenced Mercy Corps' server in Oregon and a link for donations to be sent to a PayPal account.
Officials with PayPal said the account contained $150, but it was not immediately clear where that money came from. According to the criminal complaint, Schmieder said he had sent the e-mail to 800,000 Internet addresses and had begun to receive donations.
The phony e-mails were discovered after officials with Portland, Ore.-based Mercy Corps received complaints about the solicitations and contacted the FBI (news - web sites).
Investigators found Schmieder by figuring out who copied the same images from the group's Web site that were found on the e-mail, according to the complaint.
Officials with Mercy Corps did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
Founded in 1979, Mercy Corps has provided more than $830 million in aid to people in 80 countries
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