China warns donors to guard against Internet fraud

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has warned people wanting to donate to China's earthquake victims to guard against high-tech scams.

"My family was in the earthquake. Dad and mum urgently need money. Send whatever money you can. Deposit it in our friend's account," read one phone text in the southern province of Guangdong proven to be fake by local reporters.

Police last week issued a warning after a flurry of text messages hit mobile phones, seeking assistance in emotional appeals, only asking that funds be deposited in private accounts.

"The Ministry of Civil Affairs has received reports of people being duped by Net frauds," ministry official Pang Chenmin was quoted by the China Daily on Tuesday as saying.

Chinese web chat rooms, which have been full of sympathy and grief for the quake's victims, exploded in fury at the scams.

"Anyone who steals this kind of money will be cursed," said one person on sohu.com, a popular web portal.

Another wrote: "I'm truly speechless. Why must there always be bad guys among our people?"

The State Information Office said that by Monday, China had received domestic and international donations worth 10.834 billion yuan ($1.55 billion).

(Reporting by Nick Macfie; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)