Cyber criminals have taken over social media websites and e-mails to target consumers donating for Japan's disaster relief.

 E-mails are reportedly arriving in the form of a humanitarian organization looking to set up a foundation and asking for money to help Japan's victims.

The FBI, the Better Business Bureau and the attorneys general in states including in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas and Kentucky have started sending warnings to beware of such scammers. And the Department of Justice, which set up the National Center for Disaster Fraud after Hurricane Katrina, is now looking into reports of fraudulent relief efforts. It has been informing people that request for donations may pop up as door-to-door collections, flyers, mailings and telephone calls, as well in cyberspace.

 David Marcus, director of security research and communications at McAfee said, the company has found at least half a dozen of such websites, but also said that it's hard to differentiate between them because often the same ones will simply change the wording and create another one. McAfee has even found sites that are similar to the sites of legitimate and well-known organizations like Red Cross. (ANI)