Houston men arrested in fake storm relief scheme

Two Houston men were arrested yesterday for allegedly pocketing about $48,000 they collected by setting up a fake hurricane relief site. And who says you can't make money fast on the Internet? (We guess all those get-rich-quick promoters forget to tell you about the part where FBI agents come haul you off.)

Authorities say Steven Anyanwu Stephens, 23, and Bartholomew Stephens, 26, registered the domain www.salvationarmyonline.org on Sept. 4, shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit, and represented the site as the "Salvation Army International Home Page" (similar, of course, to the real Salvation Army page, which is located at www.salvationarmy.org). On the site, visitors were encouraged to donate to hurricane relief efforts via PayPal — but the money went to a variety of PayPal accounts linked to the Stephens' bank accounts.

The pair has been charged with nine counts of fraud, conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and fines of $250,000. The story leaves us wondering one thing: Why hadn't the Salvation Army already registered salvationarmyonline.org for itself?