UN alarmed at duping of migrants via internet

GENEVA (Reuters) - Would-be migrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America are being tricked into paying up to US$1000 for promises of travel to a rich country by websites claiming links to the United Nations, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Fraudsters infiltrated chat rooms, special interest groups and even dating sites to entice men and women by claiming to belong to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or other organisations, UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.

"Unsuspecting victims are encouraged to apply to these sham resettlement programmes by paying an administrative fee which ranges from US$100 up to US$1000," she said.

The UNHCR never charges for assistance to refugees requiring international protection and people should understand that all such offers of help were false, Pagonis said.

The scams first come to light at the beginning of the year and the Geneva-based UNHCR was working with governments to try to close down any fraudulent Internet sites detected, she said.

She had no information on how many sites had been closed or on how much money might have been lost so far.