A man has been arrested in Britain after detectives discovered a bogus charity purporting to raise money for the victims of the US terror attacks.
The American Massacre Appeal had approached many individuals and organisations for donations.
The Charity Commission discovered that the fund was using a false registration number. A 26-year-old man, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, is being questioned.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: "We were alerted to the American Massacre Appeal earlier this week and made immediate inquiries as to the authenticity of the appeal.
"Our initial inquiries confirmed that the charity does not exist, the charity registration number on the correspondence is false and the appeal is bogus."
Detective Chief Inspector Susan Cross, of West Yorkshire Police's fraud squad, said: "Any attempt to profit from the appalling tragedy in New York on September 11 is despicable."
PA