Here's yet another piece of devastating news from the Katrina front: The fraudulent Web sites that purport to gather donations for storm victims now number in the thousands, according to the latest FBI estimates.

It's appalling that so many stand ready to prey upon the helplessness of others, capitalizing on the generosity of charitable folks.

As reports of lost and broken lives flooded the nation, the tally of scam sites grew about sixfold from about 400 a week ago to roughly 2,300. More than half have some link to a foreign location — which tips off investigators and savvy donors that the charity could be a scam.

Because these sites spring up faster than the government can shut them down, federal authorities are wisely counseling people against sending money through any site that's unfamiliar to them. Donors must use known Web addresses to access trusted sites, because the appearance of legitimacy is easy to fake in the online world.

Also, contributors should ignore e-mail solicitations, another common tactic of the fraudster; instead, they must go to the site and initiate contact themselves.

Smart consumers must be cautious and proactive — give to organizations you're familiar with.

It's tragic enough that so many are suffering without letting critical resources go astray.