From the Washington Post Concerned that the Gulf Coast hurricanes are spawning an unprecedented number of bogus appeals to help victims, law enforcement officials and charities have launched aggressive efforts to prosecute fraud. State and federal officials have filed charges in at lease four cases involving fraudulent appeals. They expect that number to rise sharply in the coming weeks as investigators examine thousands of suspicious fundraising Web sites, "phishing" schemes that steal financial information from donors and people falsely claiming to be raising money for hurricane funds.